Burning Twilight
by Toxinator
Summary: Roxas starts attending a new boarding school in Twilight Town for the first time, where he and Axel end up being assigned roommates. But soon, romantic troubles begin as Roxas starts falling for Axel, with Axel left for a heartbreak.
1. I Beginning

I dont own Kingdom Hearts, if I did this would be in the game. Haha. I know that this first chapter is kind of short, but its to the point, and other chapters will definately be longer. :]

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BURNING TWILIGHT I - Beginning

"Roxas!" My name was called, so loud I could have sworn it was being yelled into my ear. Close enough. It was my mom, she was standing in the doorway which is literally three feet from my bed yelling at me to "Wake up already."

I groaned, turning over and covering my head. It was too early, I had gotten to sleep at one in the morning, and now it was 4:30. Yesterday was the last day of summer vacation, and as always, I didn't get to bed early or prepare in the slightest. Needless to say, I was beyond exhausted.

And in case you were wondering why I had to be up so freakin' early in the morning, it was because both myself and my cousin, Sora, were starting at a new boarding school two and a half hours away from our small city, which rested on the outskirts of Sunset Hill. That meant one long trip to school. Thank god we were given dorms, Id hate the world (more than I do now) if I had to drive five hours every single day just to get to stupid school.

"Roxas, seriously, get up. Ive gotta pick up your cousin and drive you both to school. Hurry up!" She walked into the kitchen, and the smell of French toast and eggs floated in my room, motivating me to get off my lazy ass.

If anything, that woman's cooking is what seduced my father into being in a relationship with her. She was the most high maintenance human being in the world, I swear. I can remember when Sora and his family were coming over for dinner a few months ago.

The house was already spotless, yet she was throwing a bitch fit and freaking out. "Clean the walls!" "Scrub the floors again!" "Sweep the pine needles off the roof!" "Polish all the doorknobs in the house! Hurry they'll be here in two hours!" Geez. So troublesome.

Anyway, I went into the kitchen and ate, first step in my day. The toast was delicious. Then came the shower…it would have been one of those relaxing showers if she hadn't used up all the hot water. Now, I don't mind taking cold showers, but I mind if they're make-your-back-numb-and-in-pain-ice-cold-showers.

Whatever. The only thing left on my list of somewhat important things to do was my hair. I towel dried it for like, three minutes and sort of just let it stay where it was. I don't know why, but my hair always seems to dry _upwards._ Weird? Yeah, I know.

After all that stuff was over I was rushed (as usual, for no reason) to grab my bags and get going. It was a twenty minute drive to get Sora, who was just itching with excitement to start the new school year.

And to top off that wonderful car ride of joy, my mother made us put our bags in my passenger seat and the trunk instead of the backseat. So, I had to sit next to my ecstatic cousin. I swear, he must have been literally _twitching_ with anticipation. He looked like he was turrets or something.

After the fan_tas_tic trip to the school, it was just a matter of where to go. There were several other new students, unloading their bags and slinging things over their shoulders, looking confused and scared as to where to go once their ride drove away. I was probably in the same boat, but Sora was more on top of things. For once.

Surprisingly, he had read something about all new students' first day. He led me all the way to this map that was posted on the other side of this courtyard thing, and found where the main office was. He said that's where we needed to go.

Well, he was right. For once.

The main office couldn't have been in any more of an unnoticeable place, but we found it well enough.

"Names?" The secretary asked. She had probably done this for a few hours already, she sounded bored out of her right mind.

"Sora!" My obnoxious cousin blurted.

"Is this your first year here?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Hm. You're the only Sora we've ever had. Well," She bent under her desk and pulled out a stack of papers, looking for something presumably with my cousin's name on it. "Here you are, hun, this is a copy of the campus map, this is your classes, and up here is your room number."

"Thanks, lady!" He pretty much yelled in my ear, and zoomed off to find where his room was. I took a glance at the secretary, only to receive a look that I don't quite know how to explain.

It was as if I was a cute little seven year old boy playing air guitar singing some gibberish, but at the same time it was as if I had broken my face and was coming out into public for the first time. It was weird.

"And, your name, hun?" She urged in a weird way. It gave me goose bumps.

"Roxas,"

"Is this your first year here as well?"

"Yes." And again began the ruffling through papers until mind surfaced.

"As with your friend, here's a map, your classes and your room. I hope you like our school." I raised my eyebrows in acknowledgment and turned to leave without another word. She really creeped me out.

So, I found my way around pretty easily. My room was in building 21, room 813. It was just a lot of process of elimination once I found the building. Read each number on the first floor then went to the second, and then the third. My room was at the end of the third floor, first row. I was in one of those rooms that had a walkway with windows that oversaw the whole courtyard, and from where I was, you could see the clock tower that made Twilight Town so famous.

Looking at it gave me a sense of comfort, almost. I used to live in Twilight Town, up until a year ago. When I was around thirteen my parents got a divorce, and my mother ended up moving us to Sunset Hill two years after it happened. I hated it. I still do. My best friends were in Twilight Town, and I never got to see them after that. It sucks, even now. I haven't found friends nearly as good as they were.

Oh well. Ive just gotta stop thinking about it. Anyway, I opened my room door with a key that was in this cup thing on the side of the door. The dorm room was nothing special, just your typical room. It was pretty good-sized for a dorm, though. Although, one thing I didn't quite like.

You see, I like being by myself now that I don't have any real friends. And, as my luck would serve, there were _two_ of everything in the room. One set on the left side, another one on the right. Great. I could only _wonder_ what sort of jock was going to be my roommate for the rest of the year.

Although it continued to bug me for the rest of my time when my roomie wasn't around, I unpacked my clothes and minimal possessions, organizing them my own way.

I laid my clothes out on my bed first, which, by the way, had no sheets. I had to ask my mom to bring some back. I text her letting her know, and she was actually in the midst of cleaning _my_ room, so told me she was going to wash "the filthy things" and then bring them the next day. Whatever, at least I was getting sheets. Everything I found important in my room was with me anyway. It didn't really matter.

Anyway, I laid out my clothes on the bare bed, putting jackets with jackets, vests with vests, pants with pants, you get the picture. I hung all of those things up in the closet, which thankfully came with hangers, and then decided to do a little rearranging with my furniture.

See, the room was set up so that when you walk in you're standing directly in the middle of the two sides. The beds were in the far right and left corners with a nightstand with one of those lamps with the bendable necks on the inside of both beds, and there was a dresser and the foot of each bed, the drawers facing the wall with the door in it. And the closets were around a foot or so from the end of the dressers, and three feet from the wall with the door in it. Against the wall where the door was, there were wooden desks with one shelf and an office chair. Ya know, the one with wheels on it.

It looked a little bunched to me, so I took it upon myself to move things around to fit my desire.

First I took my desk and moved it out of the way, sort of in the middle of the room so I could move other things around better. I took my dresser and dragged it where the desk used to be, and flipped my bed around so that my head was pointing at the door when I slept. My nightstand I moved against the wall next to the closet and backed against the wooden frame for the bed. My desk was then moved to where the nightstand was originally, and I put the lamp on the desk, too.

Then there was the tedious task of getting my underwear put away before my roommate came in. Because God only knows that the jock who was to be my roommate would make fun of me every time he saw my boxers.

Thankfully I got them out of the way the moment before I heard footsteps coming down the walkway. I tensed up, hoping that it wasn't some asshole that would just come barging in.

Relief. They had opened the door next to my room. I was so calm after that, I stopped what I was doing just to relish in the moment. Lame, I know.

The last thing left to unpack was my menial possessions. I packed a bag specifically for those items, and the first one I pulled out must have been my favorite. It was an old photo of me and my friends in front of this old mansion that was supposed to be haunted in Twilight Town. We stood in front of the locked gate, and we ended up taking a picture together. I was taping it to the wall that my desk was up against when I heard the doorknob turn and the door open.

At that point I didn't really care who came in, I was too busy remembering my friends. Of course I always had the terrible thought of some muscle-head jock coming in and criticizing what I was doing, but it passed in a moment once I heard the door shut.

I looked over at whoever was standing in front of my—I mean, our- closed door, to see a tall and skinny dude who looked like he was eighteen or nineteen. His hair stuck out from the back of his head for like, half a foot or more, spaced out among a bunch of spikes. His hair was fire red, darker at the roots, and he was wearing shining, black skinny jeans with one of those vest things you would wear to a fancy gathering. You know, the ones you wear on top of the dress shirt but under the jacket? Yeah, one of those. It was buttoned, but you could see his chest and a good deal of his abs area. He was so _skinny_.

He looked up at me to find me glancing at him from my bag that I had started to shuffle through again. His eyes were a bright shade of straight green, by far the greenest eyes Ive ever seen.

"Yo," He said without any sign of a facial expression. "I guess you're the guy Im roomin' with for the rest of this year. Hmph." I didn't even say hello. I just nodded and continued to sift through my stuff. He didn't say another word either. Not for a while, anyway.

I only had one picture, and the other material thing I brought with me was a small key-shaped magnet that I stuck to the metal handle on the shelf of my desk. Other than that there was just a bunch of posters that were in my room that I brought. My favorite was a poster for the band _Alesana_. They were one of my top favorite bands.

On the other side of the room, I heard my roommate emptying his bags. By this time I was pretty much done with my unpacking, so I sat back and thought about where to put my next poster. I ended up watching my roomie for a few minutes.

He was literally taking clothes out and putting them on the floor, and everything else he unpacked from an electric guitar and bass guitar to a CD to a camera went on his bed. And apparently he had either made a lucky guess, or he had gone to this school before, because he had his own set of sheets already on his bed. I have to admit, I was kind of jealous.

He caught me watching him, and locked eyes with me. Neither of us looked away, and then he got up and walked to the edge of my bed.

"Name's Axel," He said, pointing to himself and then holding his hand out. "Got it memorized?" I raised an eyebrow at him, but took his hand.

"Roxas." But my introduction didn't come with a catch phrase after it. Axel turned around and went back to his side of the room, his back to me the whole time. After a minute or two, I had my last posters up and I turned to catch him staring at me.

"What?" I said in mild confusion. He grinned, sitting on his bed and leaning back on his arms.

"He's kinda cute," He said. I raised an eyebrow once more. It was kind of a habit, raising eyebrows.

"What?" I repeated. "Who's cute?" Honestly, I thought he was talking about the picture of one of the members from a band poster, but to my surprise that's not what he was talking about.

"You. You're kinda cute, Roxy."

That made me blush. I really have no idea why, but it did…

I just turned and looked up at my posters, another habit of mine. There were four of them that I had brought along, four others were sitting at home taped to my walls. I only had time to take down some of them before we left.

Roxy. Such a name. How did he even come up with that so fast? Maybe he was thinking about something for however long he was staring at me.

And that's the origin of the pet name he called me by whenever he was playing around. This was going to be a fairly interesting year.


	2. II It all started with a nickname

Bleh. Another short chapter. But oh well. It turned out well and left off with a cliffhanger. :D I do not own Kingdom Hearts...though I wish I did. .'

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BURNING TWILIGHT II - It all started with a nickname.

The next few days went by fairly well. What can I say, it was school. Just the same boring crap everyday for five days. They gave us weekends off, just like any normal school would. And just like normal school, no one was interested with me. I sat in the courtyard everyday for two weeks by myself under a tree, maybe eating an apple or whatever fruit they gave out. Everyone had the same lunchtime, which made me wonder where my thick-headed cousin was. He probably had detention. Idiot.

So, one day, Axel comes up to me out of the blue and just goes ahead and sits next to me, as if he didn't care I was there. I stared at him with a raised eyebrow yet again, waiting for him to at least _say _something. Eventually, he glanced at me.

"What?" He said with a mouthful of food. Of course, that kind of threw me off. As _if_ he had been sitting there the whole time.

"Whaddya mean '_what?'_ Arent you even gonna say 'hi?'"

"Why?"

"Because Im sitting right here! You just waltzed up here and sat without a word! It's rude!" But he only laughed. In response I ended up glaring at him.

"Alright then. Hi." And that was that. Not another word came out of him.

"Axel," I said with a bit of annoyance in my voice.

"Yeah?"

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"Meh," He said, swallowing a huge mouthful of sandwich. "Only when the person I decide to sit with wants to talk is when I want to talk," He took another, rather messy bite.

"Got it memorized?" I rolled my eyes, staying silent for a while before answering.

"Yeah, and I want a conversation." Axel's eyes got wide in surprise for some reason. I really have no idea why. It was as if I just told him I was gay and had fallen in love with him at first sight. It was a strange look.

"Alright," He started. "How are you, Roxy?"

"Hm. Im not too good, not too bad.

"Average?"

"I suppose." I stopped to take one of the few remaining bites of the apple I was holding. "How about you?"

"A little better than you are, I guess."

"Really?" He always seemed to be in a good mood for some reason. He almost always had a sort of smirky smile on that pale face of his. "You always seem to be happy."

"I do?" He stopped his ravenous eating to look at me. "Why's that?"

"Well, I dunno…You just always seem to have a smile plastered to your face. Smiles usually mean people are happy, right?"

"Well frowns means someone's _un_happy, right?" I was a bit taken aback, Ill admit.

"Yeah, but what's that have to do with anything?"

"Well _you_ always got a frown stuck to your cute little face," He grabbed my cheek and tugged it playfully, making me blush a little. "Ain't that right, Roxy?" _God_, for some reason that nickname always made me feel nervous and blush even more than I already was. He had just called me _cute,_ and_ Roxy,_ I could only imagine how good he was at flattery when he wanted something.

"So, Axel, why do—" The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, and Axel immediately rose and left me there without a goodbye, but just a simple wave of his hand. I didn't really know what to say, so I, too, rose from there I was sitting and went to my next class, which unfortunately was Algebra II. I hate math.

But, going to that class was more than just boring. Today, it was both boring _and_ it gave me a free nap. I don't know how long I was out for, but it was long enough for my teacher to notice. Apparently, he had called my name a few times and I didn't answer. Wanna know what woke me up? A smack on the head from the person sitting next to me.

But…there wasn't anyone sitting next to me. The first few weeks of school that seat was empty. So who the hell…?

I woke up and say the blur of spiky red hair. That was a waker upper.

"What? Axel? What are you doing in here you're not in my class!" But, my teacher, Mr. T, as we called him, told me what the deal was.

"If you hadn't been asleep, Roxas, you would have known that we had a new student join our class today. He was transferred from Trigonometry."

"Yeah because I was failing so bad they couldn't stand me anymore! Ha!" Axel boomed with laughter, and for some reason everyone gave _me_ the disapproving look. People these days are just…geez, there's not even a word. Judging? No, not quite.

Anyway, the lesson resumed and Axel wouldn't stop poking me.

You see, I have this _thing_ where if you poke me three or four times on the shoulder or in the head with like, a few seconds pause in between, I will get annoyed out of my mind.

And, of course, Axel was the first one to find that out.

He was lucky. He got to poke me like eight times, and by then I was borderline pissed. Mr. T was turned to the class the whole time though, so I couldn't just smack his hand away without some disturbance. Because for some reason everyone was just _so_ in love with math, that if there was a single noise, they would _hate _you for the rest of the time in that class.

Finally, Mr. T turned his back to us and it was just in time for me to smack Axel's hand away. I glared at him, but he just smiled back at me with the weirdest look in his eyes. Again, I cant find the word for it but all's I know is that it wasn't any normal look you give someone. But it wasn't a hated look, it was more like he was thinking "Aw, Roxy, you're just so _adorable!_" Or something.

Well that was probably the most interesting thing that happened all day. I went back to my room to do whatever homework I was assigned, but Axel didn't come in until past ten at night, which was the school curfew. We had to be in by ten, and lights out by eleven. He came back at 10:46.

I don't know what had happened, but he looked like he just had the best time of his life. After he shut the door, he just went straight over to his bed and plopped down on it like a weight. I didn't really pay much more attention to him after that, I just wanted to get my work done so I wasn't rushed in the morning.

It was a harder task as the night went on. I was still up at midnight because stupid Axel had been blaring his ipod so freakin' loudly that I couldn't keep my focus. It sucked, he kept listening to all kinds of songs that were familiar to me, and I wanted to listen to them too. When it got to 12:30, I shut my books and finally got into some pajamas.

I don't know why, but Axel's music got slightly louder when I took my jacket and vest off. And I had the habit of just getting down to my boxers before putting any new clothes on, so I figured that if we were roommates we would have to get used to each other's habits so I went and did my normal routine.

So, Im standing there in nothing but my white boxers and out of the corner of my eye I see Axel sat up against the wall with his eyes on me, scanning me up and down. You can only _imagine_ how red my face got in five seconds.

I rushed to get my pajamas on, but even after I was clothed and sitting on my bed, he wouldn't take his eyes off me. And just like the first day, we stared at each other until one of us said something.

"What? Why are you staring?" I asked, my face was still a little red.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"For as long as we've been living here I haven't seen you change once, and that was the first time. Besides, you've got a great body." He winked, and I blushed again. "I bet you'd stare if I did the same thing."

"Yeah right," I uttered, crossing my arms. Then the most interesting look came across his face and he said,

"I said Id bet." I raised my eyebrows, accepting the challenge.

"Okay, you're on. If I win, and I don't stare at you, you have to come back every night on time and not blast your music when Im doing my homework." Can you tell that I was completely confident?

"Yeah, fine. If _I_ win," Axel started, sitting on the edge of his bed with his elbows on his knees. "I get a kiss."

And I froze. Totally not expecting that one. I tried to back out of it as he was getting his pajamas out of his dresser but he wasn't listening.

"Hey, hey, hey,_ hey_, Axel, d-don't you think we can change that? I- I mean, a _kiss?_ Why, why a kiss? I mean…" Then he walked over to me like it was nothing, grabbed my hand and shook it.

"There's no changing it now," He said, walking back to his bed.

"Wait, what? Why not?"

"We just shook on it." And that smirk on his face…my god it just…got to me. It wasn't in a good way or a bad way, it just got to me somehow.

And…then came off his shirt.

I was unprepared, and looked for a second or two and then went back to playing with the cover of this book I was holding. But it wasn't enough to drive my attention away. I kept finding myself looking back at him, as he took his sweet ass time to put his shirt back on.

And…then came off the pants.

You would think that taking off tight leather pants would be tedious, but not for Axel, apparently. Now he was just kind of…dancing around rather elegantly in his boxer shorts, and I couldn't help but watch. I tried to look away from him, but it didn't work.

After like, seriously, five minutes of this he puts on some black flannel pajama pants and comes over and sits on my bed right next to me. He wasn't wearing a shirt.

"So, Roxy," He said, coming closer to my ear, "I win. Where's my prize?"

My heart was beating so fast I swear it could have come right out of my chest. My face was beat red and I didn't know what to do. I just looked away and hoped he would just go away and forget about it, but damn him, Axel's too persistent.

He teased me for a probably only a minute, but it felt like a freaking hour. He was running his fingers up and down my thigh and breathing on my neck, which is where one of those "spots" are on me.

He put his hand on my cheek and turned my face toward him, and I was just so frozen that I couldn't do anything about it to stop him. He looked me right in the eyes for a moment, and I couldn't bring myself to look away. He switched from my eyes to my lips and back again with his gaze, and then he brought my face closer to his. I shut my eyes without realizing it, so I couldn't see his face any longer. We got so close, I could feel the heat from his lips, he was so close I could have just puckered up and we would have made contact, and-

"Hey! Lights out already or you're in for it!" A voice boomed from the other side of our door. It must have been the janitor or security or someone.

I heaved a sigh of relief when Axel turned my lamp on and shut off our main light. He said to the man on the other side,

"Sorry 'bout that, lost track of time…been doing homework all night." And we heard him walk away from our door. I was so relieved that I didn't have to kiss him, but at the same time I was somewhat disappointed. Axel came over to me, telling me to lay down and get some sleep, tomorrow was apparently going to be a big day for me, he said.

I pulled the blakets up to my shoulders and turned on my left side, which faced the wall. Axel laughed a bit at my turning away from him.

"Roxas," He said softly. I turned over to look at him, and instead was met with a stealthy kiss of my lips. My eyes were wide, I wasn't expecting that to happen! I froze, but he stayed there for what seemed like hours instead of seconds with our lips together.

When he backed off he looked me in the eyes with that friendly smile he had in math class. I blushed, and couldn't think of anything to say.

"Goodnight, Roxy." He said softly, turning off my lamp and crossing the room to his bed. I was still stuck in that position, my heart was still beating so fast I had to breath harder in order to calm myself down. I turned on my side again, and closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep. But it was hard. There were so many thoughts and just, feelings that I didnt understand. Sleep didnt come easy for me, but I did get to sleep.

And that night, I dreamed about Axel.


	3. III There's more than one skeleton in

You guys are gonna LOVE this chapter! Ah! I had soo much fun writting it! :D

I dont own Kingdom Hearts...as you know...

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BURNING TWILIGHT III – There's more than one skeleton in the closet

The whole day I couldn't even look at Axel without feeling awkward and blushing. And it was harder to do than usual, and do you know why? Because Axel wanted to spend the _entire_ day with me.

I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but after that kiss I just couldn't keep my thoughts straight. And it didn't help that whenever Id space out all's I would daydream about was him.

So, the day was rather interesting. For once, he came up to me at lunch and actually said something to me. But it was hard to really remember what is was he said…again, I couldn't keep my head on straight. He dragged me over to a table full of odd looking people, so I assume whatever he said had something to do with meeting his friends.

"Yo!" He boomed pretty much right in my ear. "This is Roxas, he's gonna hang with us starting now." He ruffled my hair, sitting down in the only available seat at the table. Then he embarrassed me even more than I already was by sitting me down on his lap. He wouldn't let go, either.

It didn't seem like anyone else really cared for my presence, they were all busy. There was this dark short kid with hair in his face reading a book which must have been three thousand pages long or more, and I honestly don't think he even heard what Axel had said, he had earphones in blasting some music I didn't recognize, but it sounded good.

In particular there was this one blonde chick who kept giving me dirty looks, as if I was sitting on her boyfriend, which, by the looks of it, was the pink-haired guy sitting next to her. She was all over him, but looked jealous because I was with Axel or something.

Everyone else was just plain weird. A guy with dreads was stabbing a paper, and there was another blonde guy who looked hung over. Plus there was another ditzy kind of dude with a Mohawk mullet thing goin' on, and he just kept nervously playing guitar, stealing glances at the boy who's face was buried in the book.

This was by far the strangest group of people I ever met. And I wasn't even on a first name basis with anyone, either. So, I came to the conclusion that they all either hated me so far, didn't care about my existence, or just didn't even know each other.

"Axel," I poked him just to make sure he was listening. "Who is everyone? They look bored out of their _minds_," He just laughed and nodded to whoever he was referring to.

"The one with the Mohawk is Demyx, and Zexion's next to him. I call him Zexy," So, it seems that everyone around Axel had a pet name. "The one stabbing things is Xaldin, be careful of him, he'll stab anyone or anything that surprises him."

"So then why's he attacking his paper?"

"It's his homework," Alright, like that wasn't out of the ordinary. But he continued telling me who people were.

"The girl is Larxene. The dude she's all over is Marluxia, but he's nowhere close to straight. So don't think they're dating, she's sensitive about that. Anyway, over there is Vexen, Big Brother Lex, as we call him, and Saix. The irritated looking one with the ponytail is Xigbar, or Xiggy, and the one across from him is the drunken Luxord. That's everyone. A few guys aren't here right now, but- hey!" Axel called out waving a hand high in the air to a few guys coming our way. He had me get up so I gladly look his spot on the bench while he greeted his friends.

"Roxas!" No, that couldn't have been _his_ voice. "Roxas, it's me, c'mon!" But of _course_ it was. And then I was literally tackled to the ground by no one other than my wonderful cousin, Sora.

"Hi, Sora. What, exactly, are you doing here? And how do you know Axel?"

"Oh, my roommate used to room with Axel, and when he heard that I was your cousin I met Axel and we've been pals for a while."

"I see. Hey!" I gave Sora a well deserved smack on the head. "So you've known my roommate but never once came and said hi to me this whole time! Ive been sitting in loneliness everyday thanks to you!" But all's he did was rub his head, somehow never messing up a single spike that protruded from that bulbous head of his.

"Opps, sorry,"

"Hey, Roxas!" Axel called, waving me over to where he was standing. I was still covered in grass by the time I made it over to him.

"This is Manse- I mean, Xemnas, and this is my best friend Riku!" Standing around the same height as Axel was a silver-haired guy. His bangs hung in his eyes so I couldn't see them or anything, but something about him just bugged me right off the bat.

"And, Riku, this is little Roxy!" He bent down and actually _picked_ me _up_ to hug me for some reason. But, as usual this did nothing but succeed in making me blush. And it didn't help that Riku was giving the deadliest look any human could muster. I wont lie it was pretty frightening.

Eventually Axel put me down so I could properly introduce myself.

"Hi, my real name's Roxas, nice to meet you." I held my hand out, as manners instinctively force you to do, but what I got in return wasn't the nicest of handshakes.

"Riku." Was all he said, but he did grab my hand. Only, he grasped it so hard I swear I felt the circulation cut off from my fingers. And that death glare he gave me never went away.

After lunch was over Axel and I were gonna leave for our math class when Riku told Axel he wanted to exchange a few words with me before we left, so, Axel waited for me because Riku dragged me a ways away from Axel so he couldn't hear what we were saying. I didn't know why until much later though.

"So, Roxas," He started. "Your cousin, Sora, tells me that both you and him grew up together when you were young, right?"

"Um, yeah." Alright, a little strange with the personal life questions.

"He also told me that you two were almost like twins, you both liked the same things, the same people…your friends were the same…" He waited until I said something but instead I just nodded. I didn't know where the hell this was going.

"Well, does this go for the people you liked? And by liked, you know what I mean. Because, Sora is quite fond of other guys. Is…this the same for you?"

Alright, so by now I was feeling really uncomfortable. First, because Sora is going on telling some stranger about my life, and because I just met Riku and he's searching through my personal life right up front. Just to make things easier I gave a simple answer before heading off to math.

"Uh, yeah, I do, but I don't really see what that has to do with anything. And I really should be getting to class I don't want to be late…" I started walking away when he grabs me by the arm, rather tightly, and says to me with that glare on his face,

"As long as there aren't any wrong moves made you'll go through this year just fine. But you've gotta be careful with who you decide to give yourself to, understand?" I nodded, not really sure of what else I was supposed to do in a situation like this. "Alright, glad you understand it. It'll keep you out of trouble, for sure. Just watch yourself," And with that he let me go, and we both hurried off to our next class, which, of course, both me and Axel showed up late to. And Mr. T wasn't very fond of it.

"Sorry Mr. Thomas, we forgot our books and had to run back to get them…" I apologized. I wasn't always the best at lying, but Axel gave me this little fib ahead of time.

"Hm. Well, take your seats. Im still marking you tardy, but at least you didn't show up unprepared. Now, let's begin today's lesson. Today we're starting section one of chapter two…" And that's when he lost me. We took our seats and were pretty much quiet the whole classtime, which was strange for Axel. After being in the same class with him for a few months with him talking my ear off every single day, I couldn't help but wonder why he was so quiet. I took out a piece of paper and wrote a note to him.

_Why're you so quiet today? Its not like you._

He read the note and gave me sort of a skeptical look. I just shrugged. He sighed, rolled his eyes and scrawled something I could hardly read across the paper. I made it out, eventually.

_It's nothing._

_Whats on your mind?_

_What did Riku said to you before he left?_

_Nothing bad or anything._

_What did he _say?

_Trust me, it was nothing._

What a wrong answer. Because Axel brought my head close to his and demanded I tell him in the scariest voice Ive ever heard him talk to me in.

"It wasn't really anything," I whispered. "He just told me to not make stupid friends and to be careful around certain people in the school, that's it." He gave me a suspicious look.

"That's it?" He confirmed. This time he was raising an eyebrow at _me._

"That's it." He let go of my head and went back to being quiet, not-fun Axel for once. Toward the end of class he sighed and buried his face in his hands. I didn't really want to get involved, especially since the first thing he asked was about Riku. I figured it must have been some old issues, and I didn't want to get involved, like I said.

The bell rang a minute or whatever after that happened and Axel was the first person out of the room. And we're seated in the back, so to be the first guy out he must have been waiting for it. Unfortunately my next class wasn't with him, so I don't know where he went. But I did get worried. Seeing Axel like that made me very uneasy.

During that whole next class, which was art, by the way, I couldn't keep my mind off of Axel, where he was, how he was doing, what he was doing. It worried me. A lot. And I don't know why, either, probably because he was the closest thing to a friend I had since the move.

After that class was over I ran back to my room to mainly see if Axel was there, but since he wasn't I dropped my stuff off and called Sora's cell phone as I closed the door behind me.

"Yeah?" He answered on the last ring. That dingnut.

"What's your room number? Where is it?"

"Its 13 in building 2, whats the matter, Roxas?" For once he was concerned at the right time. I didn't bother telling him though, I would be at his door soon enough.

"Nothing, I guess Ill tell you later, see ya." I hung up and ran all the way to his room, having to knock on the door since it was locked. Sora answered it, thank god.

"Hey, Roxas, what's up, you don't look too good." But I didn't really hear him say it. Instead, I took a step in the room and looked around a bit. I saw Riku, who gave me a little smile and wave, in which I returned with a nod, but there was no Axel. So, that ruled out my idea that he had run to Riku.

"Uh, sorry Sora, Riku…um, Ive gotta go," I turned around to leave but thought of something. "Wait, uh, Riku?" He looked up at me from whatever he was doing.

"Yeah?"

"By any chance, would you know where Axel goes to be by himself? I need to talk to him about something, but I cant find him." He glared at me again. Geez, he was certainly fond of giving_ me_ that look.

"Either he's in town at the station or he's out wandering around the town. Why, what's wrong?"

"I don't really know, which is why I want to talk to him. Well, thanks for your help, Riku. See ya," And I left. I heard them say a few things after I shut the door, but I didn't care to listen. Instead I ran as fast as I could into the heart of my old town, hoping, for once, not to run into anyone I knew.

I didn't, thankfully, but spent about an hour wandering tiny little Twilight Town before going to check at the station. He wasn't down at the bottom watching the sunset like most people did, and out of paranoia I went over to the ledge and looked over, thankfully not seeing the body of a friend.

Yeah, I get really paranoid.

I turned around to look at the clock tower to see the time, and there was a figure in black just sitting up there. I was about to run into the station and make my way up the stairs to get there, but I turned around at the last second to go get something.

I remember all the times I had up there with my old friends, and we always used to eat sea-salt ice cream. So, I went and bought some for Axel and I to have. I thought that, ya know, maybe it'd cheer him up.

So up the stairs I went, and when I got to the top I caught my breath before going out to see him. I never even considered that it was _Axel_ up there, but I was too caught up in the moment to think about it.

Whatever.

I turned the corner and saw Axel, just sitting there with one arm on his knee staring out at the sunset. I didn't say anything until I thought he heard me come up to him.

"Hey," I stood there for a second, waiting for some sort of reaction, but when I didn't get one I sat down next to him. It wasnt normal of me to do things like this, but it was Axel, and I felt like I needed to. Nothing was said at all for a long while. I licked my ice cream slowly but surely, and I offered him his, but again there was no reaction. Finally, he was the one to speak.

"Why did you come here?" was all he uttered. Something about the way he said it hit me hard, its like it wasn't even Axel who was talking to me.

"Because," I said. "I wanted to make sure you were doing alright. After you stormed out of math like that I-"

"No, no…" He cut me off calmly. "You came here for something else. Or, at least I did."

"Well, what did you come here for?" He shrugged and shook his head, saying that he didn't know softly.

"Axel," I sighed. "What's the matter? Im your friend, Im here for you, and you should know that." Unfortunately that didn't help.

"But you see, that's just what _he_ said, and then he was the one to leave me, and…it was just hard to find trust in anyone anymore. And, just as I was going to give up, just as I was going to let myself rot away from the inside out, you show up, Roxas."

I looked at him, just watching him as he spoke.

"Roxas…you came here, and you probably saved me. I didn't think anyone could do that by just showing up and just by being in the room with me. I just," He sighed, letting his head fall back against the tower. "I just give my trust away to anyone. Anyone and everyone I get to know, Ill trust them with the most important things…and then they turn around and break everything, tear it all apart right before my eyes. I got sick of it, so sick that I was willing to leave myself alone entirely, and just die without another thought.

"But that first day came earlier and faster than I thought, and I met you. Just from those few short nights, you changed my thinking, and I hardly even knew you! It was just so strange, having that happen just because you were around. And again, I managed to just hand my trust over, just like that. I mean, look at what Im telling you now, Ive never told anyone any of this…not even him."

And then it occurred to me, just then. Axel was doing more than telling me what was wrong. He was spilling his heart out to me, he was speaking from the words his heart had wanted to say for so long, and I was the one, the only one who was listening.

"Again, Ive managed to potentially ruin myself again. And I don't want that to happen. Roxas, I trust you," He turned to me, locking eyes with me. And I didn't look away. I sat stern, I wanted to listen. He needed someone, and I was going to be that someone. Because of all the people he could have been talking to, no one could know as well as I did what he was going through. It had already happened to me.

"I trust you with everything, Roxas. I know you're a good kid, and a good friend. Hell, you haven't left me yet, so you must be."

"Well, what about all those people at lunch today? Arent they your friends?"

"No, they're not the kind of friends a person wants. They're all into things for the personal gain, not the friendship, like me." He chuckled, almost laughing at how stupid he was for chosing friends like those, Id be laughing for the same reason if I were him.

"But youre different, Roxas." He said, changing his position. "You're a good friend and I know it. A lot better than _he_ ever was."

"Axel," I threw my ice cream stick off of the edge of the tower, watching it fall. Once again, I offered him his ice cream. He didn't take, or refuse it. So back in the bag it went.

"Hm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, who is this 'he'?" He sighed.

"I knew you would ask that…" He almost whispered it, but he had a smile on his face.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

"No, that's fine. You should know…Im telling you all of this anyway." He sighed once more before diving into another story. "He was my best friend for years, and we had both ended up liking, maybe even loving each other. I still don't really know how I feel about him to this day, and he's still foolishly my friend, even after what he did to me. He broke my heart into pieces, smashing it to the ground and dancing on it in front of me. It was torture. And he had no remorse. Instead he went off to find a new guy to be with. And that only broke me further. I trusted him with everything, and he didn't care." By this point his voice was shaking, whether it be from sadness or anger I don't know, but he grabbed a rock that sat in the walkway and threw it off the tower. I watched it fly, but then turned back to him.

"And that jackass is still my friend. And I still trust him. For some reason, I still trust him." I could tell he was holding back tears. It was breaking _my_ heart to hear all of this from someone else, I felt horrible.

"I cant let him go for some reason, even after I told him how I felt about him he just tells me he has someone new and he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. I went home that night and attempted suicide to escape it all. But I was caught, lying half-dead on my blood-covered bed from the slits I had dug into my wrists. They kept me alive, somehow, and when he heard about it he didn't care, he…" He couldn't hold it back any longer. He covered his face with one hand, trying to cover the tears that flowed down his cheeks. "…he didn't care! I almost died for him, and he didn't care about me at all…! I just, I…" He stopped talking, and I let him cry for a minute before making a sound.

"Axel, who was it?" He sobbed into his hands, I waited for an answer. Finally, it came. "It...it was Riku..." I wasnt expecting that...as far as I knew Riku was his best friend, and to have that happen, that's heartbreaking. I felt horrible, I knew exactly how he felt. I had gone through almost the same thing, hearing it from my friend was worse than thinking about my own experience. And I decided to make a change.

I moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He was shaking.

"Axel," I said softly, "Axel, you can get past all of that. You can cry and do whatever it takes to let everything out, but don't just give up." I was quiet, and I let him calm down a little before I said anything else.

"Listen," I said. "The same thing happened to me about a year or so back. Pretty much the exact same deal. And you know something, no one was there for me like I am for you. I held everything in, and no one even knew how I was really holding up. But Im not going to let you give up. Ill really be for you for as long as you need me. I wont let you be alone." I had my arm around on his other shoulder now, and he had calmed down. I don't know if it was because of what I had said, or because he was running out of tears, but by the time he was finished the sun was almost set. He wiped his eyes one last time before saying anything.

"Thank you," He said quietly. I smiled, giving him a reassuring pat, and told him we really should be getting back to the dorm before we got in trouble again. I didn't really want to leave, and neither did he, I knew. And, a few interesting things happened on the way back to the school.

His sea-salt ice cream had melted in the bag it came in, which left us a sticky mess up on the tower, but we had a laugh.

And my favorite thing that happened that night, was that he kept my close to him and even tried to hold my hand every once and a while on the way, and he kissed me goodnight before we shut the lights off to go to bed.


	4. IV Adversary

Horray for long chapters! So like, in a Microsoft Word document, this was around 10 pages. So it's nice and long. :]

I dont own Kingdom Hearts in any way shape or form, as you all know...

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BURNING TWILIGHT IV – ADVERSARY

It had been a few months since the event at the station had happened, but a few good things actually came from that experience. For one thing, Axel and I were as close as ever, and we were both happier. Well, Axel looked like he was just in his normal mood, but I was certainly happier.

But, as my luck would serve, bad things ended up happening too. I couldn't help but staring at Riku whenever I saw him, which was turning out to be quite often, and there was a growing grudge growing in the pits of my heart for what he had done to Axel. Eventually, Riku found out that Axel had told me everything.

"Roxas," It was Riku. Lunch was almost over and he wanted to talk again, and Axel let me go but gave me a worried look when my hand left his shoulder. Just like the last time we talked on-on-one, he took me away from everyone else to talk privately.

"What's the deal with you and Axel?"

"Well, uh…" I didn't have an answer, and I was desprate for one. I could feel my face turn red and everything, and I just couldn't come up with a good answer. Its not like I was just gonna up and say "Oh yeah, Riku, me and Axel are wonderful! We're the closest we've ever been and Im loving it! By the way, did you know he kisses me goodnight? Oh yeah, that's my favorite!"

Yeah. I didn't think so. So, I just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Nothing," Smart move.

"Hm." He snorted, bending over a bit so he could look over me in a very condescending way. "If that's the case, then why has he been so attached to you? Any reason for that?" It annoyed me when people hinted at something, like you were just going to up and confess a secret, or at least something you _want_ kept secret, anyway.

"I dunno. We're just friends. Relax." Apparently, I had said that with a little too much oomph in my tone, because he moved himself closer and started talking to me like he was some sort of bully-kid. Obviously, he didn't like my lie.

"Tell me everything that has gone on between the two of you."

"I told you, nothing. And besides," I took a step back. "It really isn't any of your business to be poking around in other people's lives. Its not like you own either of us, so cut it out."

Ya know how in movies, the bully always picks on the weaker of the students? And things never go too well at all? And the weaker kid gets beat up and returns to class the following days with a black eye?

Well, guess what happened.

Everything _except _the black eye part.

Actually, what really happened is he just grabbed my collar like the bully usually does, and laid out some threats.

"Listen, if you aren't going to tell me, then Ill go ahead and tell you this," He tightened his grip, I noticed, partly because the material of my jacket was heard squeaking from being pushed on itself. "If you hurt him, I swear to God, I will hurt you so bad in return you wont come within one hundred miles of this place, got it?" He loosened his grip, and at that point I went to turn away, but he wouldn't let me.

"Also," He glanced away from me, looking probably at Axel. "As far as Im concerned, Axel's mine. He always has been, and he always will. Don't get in our way, understand?" He dropped me and calmly walked away, grabbing his stuff and claiming that he needed to head to class early. Whatever.

The bell rang pretty much right after that, and for once math class wasn't a bore. For some reason, Mr. T had us watch a movie. I forget what it was called, but it was pretty good.

After all my classes were done for the day I met up with Axel outside of the art building, which was halfway to our room, and we had an engaging conversation all the way back. Axel and I were near inseparable, at this point in our relationship. And I liked that. I liked it quite a bit, to be honest.

But there were times where he would just wake me up at one or two in the morning, worried. And it was always for the same reason, he didn't want to lose me. This was one of those nights. I can only imagine what fears were going through his head, mainly because of the whole "Riku" situation.

"Roxas," He whispered right in my ear. "Roxas. Roxas!" I had also noticed that he had stopped calling me "Roxy" for the time being. I wasn't sure whether or not I missed being called Roxy, either…

"…yeah Axel?" I turned over, rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up. He sat at the edge of my bed.

"I want to talk again," He said, with me sitting up in response. He looked at me and smiled, but his eyes didn't look at all like he was happy. A little part of my died on the inside each time he smiled like that, without real feeling behind it.

"Roxas," He started off as he usually did on these nights, a sigh with my name in it. As usual, I just listen. "Roxas, I know that you know this. Ive told you a thousand times, and Im sorry for waking you up it's just that…well, I need advice." That was unexpected. Really, it was.

"You said you've been through all of this before, so I need to know what helped you get by everything, especially since you were on your own." I sighed. I didn't really know what to tell him, I don't know how I got through everything, I just _did._

"Well…" I ran my hand through my horrible tangled hair, waking myself up a bit. "First of all, how come you're always giving me a fake smile?" He was caught by surprise, I could tell.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Whenever you smile at me, like just a second ago, it wasn't a real smile. It wasn't happy, like smiles are supposed to be."

"Sorry 'bout that…" He put his head down but I had just the words to bring it back up.

"Don't be sad about it, just think of something happy whenever you want to smile. Just don't give me those fake ones!" I managed to get him to laugh, and that was my accomplishment of the say.

"Then, I guess Ill just have to think about you all of the time, Roxas." That made us _both_ smile.

"Well back to your question," I said, leaning back on my elbows. "I guess, when I think about it, I didn't really have any special trick up my sleeve. To tell the truth, I guess something told me not to do anything too drastic or permanent, because I was needed somehow. There's not really any other way to put it." He just smiled at me, a real smile, this time. It made me smile back at him.

"Good thing you listened," And he got that look in his eyes again, the one that used to make me feel uneasy and like a baby. Except, this time, it just made me look at him. He was so handsome, one of the most beautiful boys I had ever seen. Even in the dark, his eyes were glowing.

He moved closer to me, holding himself up with his arms as he inched closer, until he was only inches from my face. I was nervous, just like I was the first time we had kissed, but this nervousness wasn't due to expectation, it was because of my mixed feelings. I knew I sort of liked him, but something told me that I was unsure of how I would really feel unless this happened. And it was.

Our lips met, and time was lost. There was nothing else in the world but me and him. His lips were soft, softer than any I had ever felt before. I had butterflies, and they were going crazy, but the sensation was flawless, I loved it. It was the perfect moment.

We must have moved the blanket, because Axel was the only thing keeping me warm. He had gotten on top of me, his thin yet muscular body against mine, and the kiss hadn't stopped.

I don't know how long the moment lasted, but every second was beyond fantastic, and I wished I could have experienced it again once it was over. It was past two in the morning, and we needed to get to bed. I tried to tell Axel to get up and go in his bed, but he had already fallen asleep. I just laughed and covered the both of us with the blanket, figuring that it didn't matter whether or not we slept in the same bed.

I was on my side, about to fall asleep when Axel turns on his back and brings me close. I laid my head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat for the first time. One hand was on my shoulder, the other was combing slowly through my hair. I laughed, the sneak had faked sleep. I didn't care. I fell asleep just like that, a warm hand through my hair and my head on his chest.

I didn't know it, but that night I had fallen the hardest I had ever fallen for someone in my entire life.

I was dreaming about Axel indirectly that night, the whole dream was that I was at this park or something, and one of the main things I can remember is that Axel and I were walking down a white-railed sidewalk, and I remember seeing a fully inflated purple balloon drop onto the grass, not popping. The next thing I cal recall is that we're laying down in the grass, he's propped up on his elbow and says to me _"You want to know the secret?" _and I laughed as I said yes. _"Yeah, yeah, what do I have to do for you to tell me?"_ He rolled his eyes and agreed to tell me. _"If you want to know what the secret is, you have to-"_

And I woke up. But it was kind of a good thing, because it was Axel who woke me up earlier than I usually woke up…I had mixed feelings about waking up that early, actually.

"Roxas,"

"What is it, Axel?" He turned me over, a big smile on his face. He looked like he'd been awake for hours already, based off of how lively he was.

"Hurry up and come with me, or you'll miss it!"

"Wait, miss what? What'll I miss?" He pulled me out of bed and outside as quietly as he could. I was pretty tired still, so I just followed wherever he was taking me. All's I know is that we had to climb a flight of stairs somewhere, and then when I was really awake we had to climb up between two walls with what little leverage there was to get where he was taking me.

We broke out of that tight area and went around an enclosed corner, where we jumped over a small cement wall to get to flat ground.

"Shh, you have to step lightly, people are down there," He lifted his finger to his lips and then pointed down. I followed his pointing and then looked up to follow Axel, only to see perhaps the best sunrise I had ever seen. I was speechless. Usually, I wasn't too amazed by these things, but I was this time. Probably because of Axel, but, whatever. It was still amazing.

"Wow," I laughed. "Axel, how did you ever get to find this spot?"

"Its easy when you read between the lines." We stood with our arms folded across a cement wall, just low enough for us to comfortably stand. I heard Axel giggle a bit, and then he brought me close with his arms wrapped around me.

God, it was so great. Just standing there with him watching the sun rise to bring us a new day. He pointed to a few of the buildings, telling me some things about them.

"See? Building three? My first year here my room was in that building, and the year after that all of my classes were in building C, and my room was right next to that. It was pretty cool," His voice trailed off, so I assumed he was done. He rested his head on my shoulder, whispering in my ear.

"But you know something?" I moved my head a bit in question. "Out of all the years Ive been here, and out of all the people Ive gotten to know, you're my pick of the litter," I smiled, and he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before saying that we needed to leave before we were seen. But the sun was up all the way, so I didn't mind.

Skipping all of the boring parts of my day, Ill go right to lunch, where I see Axel for the first time after leaving the dorm every day. Instead of sitting at a table like normal, he invited me, Demyx, Zexion, Riku and Sora to come sit with us in the grass. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had gotten past giving Riku dirty looks, and it turns out he and Sora were just as good of friends as Axel and I were. It made me wonder, a bit though.

As normal, Demyx was spending most of his time either playing random, but complicated looking sweeping riffs on his guitar or breathing down Zexion's neck as he tried to read. I had no clue what was going on between them.

"So, Roxas," Sora said. "How have things been? Everything better?"

"Better?" Axel intervened, obviously worried about me. "What was the problem?"

"A few weeks ago, back when I last saw him Roxas was all concerned about you. Apparently you had gone somewhere and he was kind of worried or whatever. He came by our room to see if we knew where you went." The whole time I was giving Sora that look that said _Sora, there are just some times in life where you just need to STOP TALKING._ But he didn't get the memo.

It sucked, because Axel didn't know that I had gone to see Riku before finding him. I can only imagine what his thoughts were on this, because he gave me that _Oh, really?_ look. I just shrugged, mouthing to him "Ill explain later."

After that lunch was just a bunch of awkwardly ending conversations.

Math wasn't any better. Thank goodness Axel and I talked it all out through a note instead of out loud…that couldn't have ended well. I tend to get loud when I argue openly.

_What was that all about?_ Is what Axel's note said. He was awfully to-the-point.

_Nothing, it was just when you left math that one time in a hurry I wanted to make sure you were alright._

_So why'd you go to Riku?_

_Because since he was like your best friend or something I thought he might know where you had gone or where you _would_ go, it wasn't anything bad._

_Where did he say I was?_

_He said you'd either be roaming in town or at the station. Why? _He didn't respond very quickly at all. He looked like he was thinking about something, and he wouldn't budge whenever I tried to move him. Soon enough he passed the paper back.

_Its just like, why didn't Riku go looking for me if he knew where I'd be? We have our last class together, and if I wasn't there, why wasn't he concerned? _I looked over to him after I finished reading, and he had his chin in his hand, his elbow holding it up. He was troubled by it, I could tell.

Sighing, I gave whatever advice I could.

_Look, Axel,_ It took me quite a while to write the right words, but I got it. _Don't brood over it. Not to be an ass or anything but you said yourself that he didn't care about you anymore. And if that's true, this proves it, okay? Don't get upset about something like that. Who knows what he was thinking, but if he was afraid to lose you he'd go after you. He didn't, and as bad as it may sound, I just have to say leave the issue alone. You've fixed this problem, why start it all over again?_

I don't know what effect that had on him, but he didn't write back. I have to admit I got kind of scared, he wouldn't look at me for the rest of the class. But he didn't rush out right after the bell rang. He just slowly packed his things. Being who I was, I waited for him for as long as I could. He even walked the halls slowly. It was too quiet, everyone was in class or running to a class to be on time, and I knew we were both too far from our own classes to even run to get there on time. Outside of the building I stopped him.

"Axel," I said, grabbing his arm and holding him back. He didn't look back, he just stood frozen. "Look, I know what I said might have been bad, but its true. Trust me." He didn't say anything. I let his hand go but he made no moves. Putting my hands on my hips I continued.

"Listen, just let that go. It doesn't have to be right now, and Id hate to say get over it, because I know, first hand that its not that easy. But like I said, that problem is said and done. Nothing more can be done unless you bring it up again and restart that heartbreak. You just have to leave Riku to live his own life, and whether or not his new life has you in it is his decision, alright? Now, I don't like it when you get like this. You're unresponsive, you don't listen to anybody, and you put yourself in jeopardy just because you're upset. Don't do this, please." Silence was the only noise, and it was the loudest thing I could hear.

He didn't speak for a long time.

"Look, Roxas," He didn't turn to face me. "I know all of that. I just have to think about it for myself, I need to be able to accept it before I do anything else, okay?" I gave a nod, not saying a word. Even if he didn't hear anything, he knew my answer. "Im skipping this class, and Im going back to the room. If you can, do whatever you need to somewhere else. I need to clear my mind of everything wrong right now. I know you'll understand."

I did. He walked away, and I went to class, late.

The day was over, and I had whatever books I needed to do whatever homework I had, and I didn't mind leaving Axel by himself for a while. If he needed it, I was okay with it. I do admit, I went back and dropped my things off in front of the door, but I didn't go in and disturb him. Then, I left for town.

It was only four in the afternoon, and knowing the people of Twilight Town, things didn't start winding down until five-thirty or six. I smiled a bit at the memories I had of the town, but not once did I go by the station. I didn't want to think about Axel, it would just make me worry.

So, I went to the number one place I used to go in my old home, the Usual Spot.

I was pretty nervous walking through that alleyway, but only because I hadn't seen anyone in a few years, and I wondered if they were even friends anymore. Whether or not they even came to this place anymore.

I stopped in front of the open fence, trying to calm down the nervousness I had. Taking a deep breath, I slowly moved the red-cloth doorway out of the way and poked my head in to find exactly what I was looking for.

Sitting in their normal spots on a box, the couch, and an old heater-type thing, were my best friends Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Being the one facing the entrance at all times, Hayner was the first to see me. I smiled nervously, waving when he noticed me. Of course, Olette being Olette, she was the first to really notice who I was.

"Oh my god, Roxas?"

"Hey," I waved again, not being able to help the smile. Hayner and Pence's reactions were priceless, I have to say.

"What! Roxas!" Hayner jumped off his spot and came over to me, followed by Pence who had pretty much the same reaction. I was smothered in hugs and light punches to the arm, but they were more than happy to see me.

"Wow!" Olette was the happiest, it looked like. She was amazed at how I looked. "Oh my god, Roxas! You look so different! Wow, oh my god, I missed you! How've you been!" Hayner couldn't keep from punching me, asking about this and that…everyone looked so different compared to the last time we were together, but we all still had the same attitudes and all that good stuff. It was just like the old days.

Anyway, we roamed around Town until it was dark outside, and Hayner took me back to his house for a few minutes to catch up after everyone had to go home.

"So, Roxas, what've you been doing this whole time? You back in town for good or what?"

"Yeah, not much…I live as close to Sora now, so, you know how that is. Geez, the people in Sunset are just nothing like you guys here. You cant find any good friends over there. But, yeah, Im actually going to school over at that 'Twilit Boarding School' or whatever. Its pretty nice, but Im not here in town or anything, just came to visit."

"Ah, man, well it was sure a surprise to see you, man!" Another punch. There was going to be a bruise there, but it didn't matter.

"So, when should you be going back?"

"I should leave pretty soon, I cant be out too late, school curfew and everything."

"Oh, well then let me drive you," It was Hayner's mom. To her I was like a second son, as she had always put it.

"No, that's alright I can walk—"

"No! Let me drive you, you'll get there twice as fast."

Needless to say she insisted on giving me a ride, but it was great while it lasted. Hayner and I talked the whole way, and now that he knew I was so close for now he wanted to see me more.

"See ya, Roxas! Come back and see us again sometime!" And they drove off as I walked to my room.

It didn't occur to me that Axel was still there, I mean, it just wasn't like him. But when I got to the door my stuff was still outside, in the exact condition I had left it in. I was kind of shy to go in, I didn't want to disturb him, but it wasn't like I _couldn't_ go in. I mean I _cant_ sleep outside, the patrol people wouldn't allow me.

"Whatever," I grabbed my bag and took out a paper and pencil, writing a note for Axel.

_Axel, I didn't want to disturb you so I went to sleep over in Sora's room. –Roxas_

I slipped it under the door as quietly as I could, picking up my things and heading for my cousin's room. I didn't care if Riku was there or not, I needed a place to stay, and if he didn't like it, I didn't really give a crap.

I knocked on the door when I got to the right room, and it opened faster than I thought it would. Apparently, they were still awake. Or, at least, Riku was, He was the one who answered the door.

"Hey, Riku," Hopefully that was the right thing to say.

"Hey, Roxas, what's the problem?"

"Well, you see, Axel's having some issues and I want to give him some time alone…long story short, I kind of need somewhere to sleep. Is it alright if I like, crash on the floor or something?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Totally," He opened the door wider for me to walk in and I set my stuff down next to a bed that Sora was sleeping in. The fool was draped on his bed like he was a stuffed toy.

"Thanks, Riku, really. And, Im sorry about this, it's just that," I stopped, shrugging. He nodded, knowing pretty much what was going on.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes. Oh well, glad you decided to leave him be. You never know what he'll do, that Axel."

"Yeah…" I looked around. "Hey, where does Sora keep his pajamas? I couldn't bring any, you know,"

"Top drawer,"

"Thanks." I was getting changed, making sure to remove only one article of clothing at a time and then replacing it instead of stripping down like I did for Axel. Thankfully, Riku was totally uninterested. He was going through a binder or something.

"So, uh, Roxas,"

"Yeah?"

"What made Axel get this way?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. Ive only got an idea." I sighed, grabbing a random pillow off the floor and relocating it. Riku tossed me a blanket. "Thanks,"

"No problem."

"Well, I guess it was because he didn't know that I had come here to see if you knew where he had gone. He didn't think Id do that, I guess. I don't know, I told him that I came to ask you and then he got upset about it. I just left him alone." He nodded, flipping some of his long silver hair behind his shoulder.

"Hopefully, he'll be better by tomorrow, or at least soon. Seeing Axel get like that always made me feel kind of bad."

"I know what you mean, he doesn't let anybody in, or anything."

"Mhm."

"Im sorry to rain on your parade, Riku, but, I went into Town and horsed around with some old friends, and it wore me out. Ive gotta get to sleep or fall asleep in mid-sentence."

"Yeah, I think Ill hit the sheets too. Long day," He watched me until I was situated with whatever bedding I had and shut the light off.

"Thanks again, Riku, really."

"No problem, anytime." I turned over, not really wanting to think about anything. It seemed that as soon as I closed my eyes I fell asleep. And I really needed that.

It was one of those rare, deep sleeps, where you feel like you could sleep forever if you weren't woken up. But of course, as soon as an alarm went off I was as awake as Id ever be.

It was Riku's alarm clock that woke me up. For a second I was confused, I had forgotten where I was, but as soon as I saw a blur of silver out of the corner of my eye I remembered. Sitting up I looked at Sora, he was still dead asleep.

"Sora," Riku said right next to his ear. The rock didn't even twitch or anything. "Sora. Get up." He said it louder, poking him in the cheek. His reaction was delayed, which amused me. It took him three full seconds of silence to violently snap awake.

"Roxas?" He yawned. "Why are you here?"

"Long story, it doesn't matter," I stood up to stretch, and scanned the area around me for my clothes. Geez, it looked like Sora hadn't done his laundry since he got here. I found my stuff eventually, and then just got dressed right then and there. Neither of them were interested in me, thankfully. I think Sora just didn't care about it, he had seen me undress thousands of times when we were kids. We were pretty much like brothers, but whatever. Ive already explained this.

So, school started as every other day did, and as usual, I didn't get to see any of my partially real friends until lunch. I say partially real because the only people I ever talk to out of that giant group is Axel, Riku and Sora. Those three, including Sora, are my friends.

I was worried, at first. Axel didn't show up for the first five minutes or so of lunch. I saw him walk up from what looked like the direction of our dorm room, but I didn't question him. He sat next to me, smiling, but it wasn't a completely real smile. He still wasn't better from yesterday.

"Hey, Roxas."

"Hi,"

"So, uh…how are 'ya?"

"Decent. More importantly, how are you doing?" I could only guess that he had been waiting for that. He sighed and put his head back.

"Im fine. Still got some things on my mind, but Im fine." He didn't sound like he was anywhere near telling the truth on that one. He wasn't happy, cheery, peppy Axel.

"Tell me the truth, Axel." I went ahead and said. _Some_one had to be the authority around here. "You don't sound right. Something's still very wrong. Tell me what the problem is." Instead, he pulled out his phone and pretended to be answering someone's message. He closed it before answering.

"I was perfect this morning, then I read your note to me, and it got me thinking again."

"Thinking? How?"

"You went over to Riku's room."

"Yeah, and? I needed some place to stay so you could be alone."

"You don't get it."

"No," I said as stern as I could manage. "I don't. So tell me what I don't get."

"Not right now. Ill tell you some other time. Lunch is almost over, anyway." He was right, and off to math we went. We were early, for once, but I don't see how. We walked the same pace as normal. Hell, something was wrong and I didn't know what it was. This was another thing you can add to the "Things That Annoy Roxas" list. Not knowing.

Math went by slower than usual, and Axel still wasn't saying a word. I didn't feel like passing notes, so figuring out his issue right now was a lost cause.

Art didn't go by any faster. Considering we had a test, and we had to name all kinds of critiquing viewpoints and describe them, it wasn't very fun like it usually was. Today was just one of those days.

Axel didn't meet up with me after class, so I just went on back to the dorm. There wasn't a note on the door or anywhere around it, so I just opened the door and went inside. Axel wasn't there.

"Ah, dammit, not again…" It was getting too cold outside to be walking freely from the campus, so reluctantly, I packed up a few changes of clean clothes and went down to the main office to excuse myself for a few days. Surprisingly, they give you the right to sick days, kind of like a job does. I went to Twilight Town again, right to the Usual Spot.

They must have all been out doing something, because no one was there and it was only three-thirty. I dropped my stuff off next to where I always used to sit and left. I was walking towards to station mindlessly, I usually went there when there was nothing to do back when I lived here, and I looked up at the clock tower and saw Axel. I forgot he wasn't at the school.

I didn't make any moves to go see him, so I just stared, looking up, before turning around and walking back down to our spot.

It was weird, no one had shown up all day. I went wandering around until I found a back street that lead to Hayner's. When I got there, I knocked just to make sure someone was home. His mother answered the door with a big smile when she saw me again, and she told me Hayner was in his room.

Just like the day before, we had a blast. Turns out Olette was studying for some big test and Pence was grounded, so Hayner was bored stiff at home.

"I never study for any of those stupid tests and I do just fine,"

"Same."

"So, Roxas, what brings you here again? Not that I don't want you here or anything." I laughed.

"See, my roommate is having some issues and I left him alone, so I figured I just needed to get away from it all, and here I am. Do you think it's alright if I stay here 'till Sunday night?"

"Yeah, man, no problem! I mean, Ive got school tomorrow and Friday, but Im sure you'll find something to occupy yourself while I suffer." We had a pretty good laugh over that one. The Twilight Town teachers weren't a very lively bunch. They were either old, grumpy, mean, boring, or a combination of the four.

Hayner's mom was more than happy to have me stay, but we still had to go to bed early since Hayner had school and everything.

The next few days with Hayner and the gang were as fun as they used to be. Pence was gone on Friday and Thursday after school, but he was free for the weekend.

Everything was just fine and dandy until I had to go back to school. It was just back to the same boring stuff I had left, the only difference was that Axel was happy again. I didn't bother him about it at all, figuring it was best to keep the hatchet buried.

It was nearing Christmas, and even though it wasn't a big holiday to me, everyone else was stoked about it. Two to three weeks of vacation depending on the snowfall, and everyone was going home for that time period unless stated otherwise.

My mom wanted me home for the holidays, so I was forced to leave. Sora came home with us, but he didn't stay at my house. Axel wasn't going home for the vacation, so I asked if it was alright if Axel could come and stay with us, since the school wasn't going to be very open.

"He can stay for a while, but maybe not the whole three weeks. Family might be coming and you know how your grandmother is," Oh yeah. The number one thing I hated about the holidays. Family gatherings. And my grandmother was the worst of all. She didn't like anything, she was very old, and old fashioned as well. Which meant a large dinner and no doing anything until actual Christmas day. I hated Christmas, so I never minded the waiting.

Anyway I went to my room and told Axel that he could come with me back to my house, if he really wanted to. His eyes lit up when I offered, and he started to pack whatever he would need.

The vacation was a fun one, but not the funnest, considering that Axel had to leave partway through the vacation because of my grandmother. I was bored stiff after he left. He only stayed for one week, too. It snowed a lot during the vacation, meaning we had three weeks of time off instead of two. It sucked.

But when I got to go back to school, I took a small bag of some more of my personal things to put up in the room when I got back. Axel was more than happy to see me, and greeted me with a big swing-around hug and a pat on the head.

"How was your vacation without me?" He asked.

"Boring as hell," I answered with a laugh. "What about yours?"

"Cold. Very cold. Ha."

"Well it's good to be back!"

Thank goodness that after I got back our relationship repaired itself again. We were just as happy as we were, and what was better, Valentine's Day was coming up. It was already getting into late January, and everyone's minds were on it.

Things went as normal as they usually did, fun at lunch, boring classes, hanging out when school was done, homework, and sleep, followed by the same thing the next day and the next day. Nothing that interesting to report on.

But when the day did come, something bad happened, as my luck would have it.


	5. V Devastation

A shorter chapter for easier reading, the climax included.

I dont own Kingdom Hearts...I wish I did though. .

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BURNING TWILIGHT V – DEVESTATION

As I said before, it was close to Valentine's Day and of course, something just _had_ to go wrong.

So, on the twelfth Axel and I got bored and decided to crash at Sora and Riku's dorm just for the hell of it. We were just laying around, being bored. It was after curfew, and since their room was on ground level we couldn't exactly be loud.

To tell the truth, I don't even know why we thought it was a good idea to go over there. Riku just sat there and Sora passed out from a sugar rush. Plus, I needed to finish some homework that was due so nothing too fun was going on in the first place. Plus midterms were the next day.

To get right to the point, we went to bed early, and woke up early. Why'd we wake up early? Blame Axel. I swear, the guy never sleeps. Hes awake when I go to bed, and he's awake before Im up.

Anyway, the entire day was a drag and a half. Plus, the thirteenth was a Friday and we didn't have school the next day, so midterms would continue on Monday, which, I think, makes _zero_ sense.

We completed two of our classes, and then there was a ten minute "resting period" before our third class. Not fun, at all.

So, Ill spare you the boring parts and get right down to where things started to go awry.

We stayed in our room the night of the thirteenth, and when I woke up Saturday morning Axel had gone somewhere, so I did my own thing.

After I showered and all that good stuff, I couldn't find one of the books I needed, and I figured I left it back in Sora and Riku's room. I left a note for Axel telling him where I went, just in case he came back and started to freak out about me going missing or something.

Hey, you never know what he'll do, you gotta tell him these things.

So I go to cross the courtyard thing that stretches the school out when I run into Zexion, of all people. And guess what? He wasn't reading this time! Exciting? Well, it was to me.

"Roxas," He stopped me with the most monotone voice I had ever heard. But yet, there was still some character in there. Weird.

"Yeah?"

"You haven't happened to have seen Demyx around, have you?" To be honest that surprised me a bit.

"Uh, no. What's up?" He shook his head, flipped his hair in a failed attempt to get it out of his face and uttered something before he walked off.

"He took my book." And off he went. I shrugged it off and went back to getting over to Sora and Riku's room for my stuff. I actually got a text from Sora, telling me that he needed help with something, but he wasn't in his room.

I figured it didn't really matter when I got my book, just as long as I got it so I could do my stuff, so I went searching for my delinquent cousin. Turns out he was climbing a tree a distance from the school's main area, and he went to jump off when an old chain on his pants got caught. He was stuck, and I was the lucky guy who had to get him down.

Long story short, it consisted of a lot of yelling and bruising, followed by _more_ yelling and bruising, and ended with a heavy Sora landing on a not-as-heavy Roxas.

"Sorry 'bout that, Roxas,"

"Ow." Was all I said.

We started walking back to his room shortly after, and the whole time the kid couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Sora." I cut him off in the middle of some long rant about keys.

"Huh?"

"Tell me, did you eat any sugar today?"

"Well yeah, 'course." I just shook my head and sighed. I blocked his rants out for the rest of the walk.

We got there in good time, and Riku was sitting on his bed (as always) doing something that looked either really interesting, or really boring. I didn't question what it was, though.

He didn't look up when we came in, though. Sora greeted him with a hug but he didn't respond, and I said a simple "hey" and got the same thing back. Whatever.

It was harder finding the things I was looking for than I thought. Partly because Sora's side of the room had gotten messier, and that is exactly where I foolishly left my book. Sora left for some reason I didn't care to listen to, and I kept moving clothes looking for my things. Eventually, Riku noticed my efforts were going nowhere.

"What're you looking for in there?" I was pretty much buried in a pile of smelly Sora clothes when he asked that.

"Uh," I tossed some huge yellow shoes out of my way. "I think I left one of my books here, I need it to take notes for a class…" I didn't get any sort of response, but I did hear him walk over after a moment.

"Let me help you look for it. You'll get lost over here if no one's watching, I swear." That made me crack a smile. Riku was a pretty amusing guy when you got to know him well enough. I think…

Let me tell you, even with both of us looking, we didn't find my book at all, and we had been looking nearly everywhere for like, five minutes. And that's a lot of searching in a small room with two people.

I sighed, just, sitting, for a moment.

"Sora seriously needs to pick this stuff up. It looks worse than his room back at his _house_ does, and that's saying something."

"You'd never know, but he picks this up pretty well almost every day," Riku mentioned. "I don't know how he gets it like this."

I don't know why, but it seemed to me like something was occupying Riku's mind quite a lot during our search for the lost book of worldwide arts. I put it aside, for the most part. But, shortly after I had put it aside, that's when things started to go wrong.

I stood up to stretch, feeling at a loss for the book I was looking for.

"Man, I guess it's not here after all. Maybe I just misplaced it back in the room…" I took a step back and fell down right on my boney butt in the center of the room, which really hurt. After the pain was gone I just sat there, trying to at least relax a little bit. I leaned up against the side of Sora's bed, and Riku leaned against his directly across from me. We started talking about just some random stuff, and then he asked a few questions I wasn't sure I should have answered truthfully, like I did.

"So, Roxas," He started. "How are you and Axel doing? Everything better?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, now," I said, blind to his questioning. "After he had his time to think, things went right back to normal."

"That's good." He nodded. After a minute or so, he kept going. "Ya know how you came here and asked where he was?"

"Yeah."

"Where did he end up? Like, where'd you end up finding him, I mean."

"He was sitting up on the clock tower down by the station," I gestured with a wave of my hand. "I used to go up there all the time, it helped me clear my head. I guess it helped Axel out too."

"Hm. Well, what was the problem?"

"Just, ya know." I didn't want to point any fingers, things were just normal, nothing needed screwing up. "It was just a bunch of drama. Fortunately, I had gone through nearly the same thing, so it was kind of easy to know what to say to him."

"Really?" He seemed interested in the whole thing, like really interested. Not in a sarcastic way, either. "I guess it must have been hard then, huh?"

"Mhm. Dealing with a heartbreak is never easy," Telling him that was my mistake, but I didn't know it until later. "It turns out that both of us had our best friends misuse the trust we gave them…and they didn't care. It was life-ruining, that's for sure. Having your trust broken is one of the worst things…"

"Is it? Ive never had that happen before." He hunched forward, I thought it was because of interest. He ended up moving _quite _close. After a few seconds he had managed to somehow render me speechless, and I couldn't get myself to move, either. He ended up a very, _very_ short distance from my face, and he was pretty much hovering over me, even on his hands and knees.

"Rku, what-" Almost like it was on queue, the sound of the doorknob turned and he pushed his lips against mine, and I was frozen with the door opened, and it was a nightmare. It was Axel standing in the doorway.

He might have had a smile on his face when he opened it at first, but when his eyes saw the scene before him the happiness melted from his face. I looked at him when I was able to really move, but Riku didn't until I said something.

"Axel, I know this sounds typical, but this isn't what it looks like-"

"Yeah, Roxas," His face caused my heart to crack, but not break. Not yet. The look on his face was a mix of anger, sadness, depression, betrayal. "Sure it isn't." He let go of the doorknob and stormed away.

I just sat there for a minute, unmoving. I managed to force my body to move and wriggle out of the position Riku forced me into, and I glared at him with all my heart and soul, wiping my face off.

"Riku, what the _hell_ were you _doing?_" My hands were in fists, I was so angry I couldn't stand it. I felt like I needed to bash his head in right then and there. But he just smirked, almost chuckling at me.

"How's it feel being the bad guy?" Was all he said, his light blue eyes piercing the pits of my being. "Ill tell 'ya, revenge is sweet. " I turned to leave, when he called my name and I just _had_ to turn around. He reached under his bed and pulled out the book I was looking for, like he knew it was there the whole time. He had the nerve to hold it out to me, that look still on his smug little face. I didn't even take the stupid book. I just glared again and turned to leave.

"Axel!" I called his name, not knowing which direction he went. My first thought was to go back to our room, so I sprinted, running through the halls and different ways you could get back to the room, and when I got there I burst open the door to find it empty. Not a sign of Axel anywhere.

I ran out of there, barely remembering to close the door, and when I got to the bottom of our building I had to stop to catch my breath.

"I cant wait…" I said out loud when I meant to think it. "Ive got to find him," And I went running again, all the way into Twilight Town. I didn't see him on any of the given roads, but he wasn't at the station or at the clock tower. My only thought was to ask around town.

I went to the Usual Spot and asked Hayner and the hang, first,

"Hey, guys," I panted, overriding any questions they had. "There's this guy, Axel, uh, he's real tall with fiery red hair that sticks out quite a bit, and he's wearing all black, have you seen him around?" But all of them answered no.

"Sorry, Roxas," Olette apologized.

"No, that's alright, but I gotta find him, so Ill catch you guys later, maybe,"

"Wait, Roxas!" Pence stopped me. "We can help you look for him. With more of us combing the town, we're sure to find him if he's here." Everyone agreed to helping me, and that I was more than grateful for.

"Thanks guys,"

We all split up and took different portions of the town. Hayner was in charge of the alleys and the sandlot, Olette got market street, the station, and the tram common, Pence got the tunnel system and I was in charge of searching the woods around town.

We all searched for thirty full minutes, if not more, without finding a trace of him. But then I remembered, after a ways through the forest, there's the old haunted mansion. That's where I headed after searching the forest really well.

The gates were open, but the lock that was on there was completely gone, so I didn't think Axel could have pulled that off. I walked up to the mansion's doors and pushed them open, they were unlocked, too. Inside was musty as ever, and I saw Axel walking down the hall in the foyer.

"Axel!" I said his name with relief I wasn't expecting. "Oh my god, you don't know how long Ive been…" I had to stop to catch my breath. I had been running around nearly the whole time, and I was out. He didn't say a word, and just looked at me.

Once I caught his gaze, I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. He looked at me with hate, and I could see that from even the long distance we stood from.

"Axel," I started, "Axel, just please, listen to me, what you saw back there wasn't anything, Riku-"

"No," He said. I was struck silent. "I know what I saw. And it's happened before." He turned to face me completely, putting his hands on the wooden rail before him.

"Wait, no, it's not what you-"

"No! Ive done this before, this has already happened before, I wont do it again!" He was yelling now, but it was pained, he didn't want to, but he had to. "I _trusted_ you, Roxas! With _everything_ I was, I _trusted_ you! And you ruined that, just like you said you would _never _do!" His voice was shaking, every word filled with anger and pain. I was unable to say a word. He moved his head in a movement of utter distress, and he said five words before going into a room.

"And you broke my heart." My mind went blank, the sound of his steps echoing but not being heard as he walked away.

Every word he had said was like a knife, cutting deeper into my skin as he kept up. I felt true devastation for the first time, and it wasn't even my doing. I was framed. And it cost me the best thing in my life. And I didn't know how to get it back.

I had dropped to my knees, and I didn't know it until I got a message from Olette.

_Did you find him?_

I typed slowly, mindlessly, my answer.

_Yeah,_ I said. _I found him._ An image of his face went through my head, the look he gave me, the sorrow. I added to my message before sending.

_Everything's fine. Im going back._

I sent the message, but in my mind, I knew that nothing was fine.

So much for a Happy Valentine's Day.


	6. VI Never again

A VERY short chapter, but it'll give you something to look forward to when you're done with it. The next chapter should be up in like a couple of days, if not tomorrow.

I dont own kingdom hearts, not a single part of it. :/

* * *

BURNING TWILIGHT VI – NEVER AGAIN

My mind was blank. I couldn't think about anything during the time I had to walk back to meet Hayner and the gang. The first thing they asked about was where Axel was. I told them he was fine, he was just hanging out with some other people. Their concerns were gone, and the only thing left on their minds were probably something like getting ice cream. I don't remember if they invited me, but I went back to my room at the school anyway.

I didn't run into anybody, not from what I recall, at least. Even if I did I don't think I talked to them. I got to my door soon enough, and saw that my note was still there. I stared at it, hating it, loathing it. I tore it down and threw it in a crumpled up ball on the ground.

There was nothing I could focus on. Not even my music could drive my mind into action. I felt empty, shattered… like there was nothing in the world that was able to fix me. And it didn't help that Axel didn't come back.

Three weeks had passed, and most of the snow was melted. Spring was on its way, but it didn't make me happy. I went back to sitting by myself for the most part. I remember one day, Sora came up and asked me what was wrong, and why he hadn't seen Axel in such a long time. I didn't answer, but Riku came along and took Sora away.

"C'mon, Sora, just leave him be." I hated his voice. I hated it with a fiery passion that burned in the pit of my heart. But there was nothing I could do. There was nothing anyone could do.

Classes were like dreams, I could hardly keep up, let alone pay attention. This continued for another week, these endless dream-like conditions. I didn't know whether or not I liked it, but one thing was for sure. My grades were failing.

I didn't know how bad they were until I was called into meet with the head honcho of the school.

"Roxas, your grades have quickly been falling, and they're not at passing level." I didn't respond. I knew he had more to say. He sighed. "Look, Im sorry, but if this keeps up, we're going to have to kick you out. This school requires a C+ average at a minimum, and you don't even have that." He must have been standing, because I heard the springs on his chair squeak as he sat.

"I don't know what's happened, and I wont ask. But your grades were top notch only a month ago. Now they're like this," He turned a computer screen towards me so I could read my grades.

English, D+, Gym, C, History, C-, Biology, D, Algebra II, F, Art, C.

"Ill give you one month from now to raise those grades, or we're calling your parents to get you."

I couldn't remember what class I was in when I was called down, so I just went back to my room. I guess it must have been math class, because there were only three bells that rang. The one ending fifth period, the one starting sixth, and the one ending school. Whatever. I didn't matter.

I knew I couldn't get my grades up. It was hard enough to think about getting them up, let alone actually doing it. Focusing as of right now was a lost cause.

And so was I.

Nothing got done, and my grades fell all the way to D's and F's. I was called in to meet him again, and this time, my mom was waiting there to take me home. I packed my things while she talked with the principal guy or whoever, and I didn't care. What did it matter to me whether or not I stayed at Twilit Boarding School? No one here was worth making the effort for.

I was walking down the stairs and to the car on my second trip with my last bag of clothes when I ran into the one person I really didn't want to meet.

"So, you wanna know why I did that?" It was Riku. I didn't look at him, only listened. I shut the car doors with my things inside, and when I was finished he began.

"Axel and I were in love almost two years ago. Or, we thought we were. But I didn't have the guts to tell him I didn't think I really loved him. So, I wrote him telling him I didn't, but he didn't get the message. I thought we were over, but he finds me and someone else, heartbroken by what he sees. In turn, that broke my heart. Seeing him like that.

"That's when I realized that I wanted him back. But of course, when I saw him again, he didn't want me. He already had his hands on someone else. You. He liked you, a lot, when you were first friends. He told me everything, thinking I was over it all. But I wasn't. It just made me hate you. And kissing you at the right moment broke him away from you. So now, he's mine. Im the only one who even knows where he's been this whole time. You know that when he was alone, I was talking with him, even while you sat on the floor next to me? I was helping him, not you.

"Ive kept that a secret, and now you know. But you cant do anything about it, you're already out of here. Good luck ever seeing him again, Roxas."

The drive home was as mindless as the rest of the days. Riku's story had gotten to me, but I wouldn't show any signs of it until I was home, unpacked, and alone.

Thankfully, it was a Friday, and I didn't have to do anything special the next day. I couldn't sleep, so after my mom had gone to bed, I climbed out of my bedroom window and clawed my way to the roof. It was three in the morning, but the moon was bright enough to help me see.

I sat on that rooftop watching the stars and sky thoughtlessly for hours. The sun was rising soon enough, and it made me remember something I wish I could forget.

"_See? Building three? My first year here my room was in that building…"_

"_But you know something? Our of all the years I've been here…"_

I didn't want to remember this.

"…_and out of all the people I've gotten to know…"_

But I was anyway, and I so desperately wanted this memory to go away.

"…_you're my pick of the liter."_

It brought me to tears. The sun rose before my eyes like it did when I was with Axel, my best friend, the one who stole my heart, the one I loved. All of the times that we had together came back to me, and I wanted to forget them all.

"…_he didn't care! I almost died for him, and he didn't care about me at all…!_

I remembered his face, the distorted pain and sadness, the tears that poured down his cheeks. I remembered how helpless he looked, how I felt, how I helped him through it, and how he told me he trusted me.

I remembered how he looked at me.

"_I _trusted_ you, Roxas! With _everything_ I was, I _trusted_ you!"_

I remembered how he loathed me,

"_And you ruined that, just like you said you would _never_ do!"_

I remembered how he walked away.

"_And you broke my heart."_

I remembered how I never saw him again.


	7. VII So, we meet again

Meh. I dont really like how this one turned out. Tell me what you think of it and all that jazz.

I do not own kingdom hearts.

* * *

BURNING TWILIGHT VII – SO, WE MEET AGAIN.

Its been three years since that day. And I don't remember anything until reality came and knocked me upside the head.

I was expelled from Twilit Boarding School, and I went back to the regular high school in Sunset Hill. For the longest time I couldn't keep my head on my shoulders. My grades didn't improve very fast at all, until I was about to fail my sophomore year. That's when I got my head in the game and passed.

I wont lie, I thought about him everyday. But after a while it stopped bothering me. It became a habit to purposefully deprive myself of sleep just so I could wake up and watch the sunrise from my roof. And, if I thought about anything, it was about him.

I stopped saying his name entirely, even in my head. To me, he was just _him._

Things had been the same ever since I graduated from High School. I fucked up for too long, so no college was willing to accept me, and I didn't feel like going through the process of driving hours just to reach the closest community college.

So, I was nineteen, and no longer in school. I had lived three years isolating myself from family, life, and friends. If anyone knew who I was, I was the loner, the kid no one wanted anything to do with. But I liked my solitude. It helped me think, and realize things I wouldn't have realized if I hadn't been alone. Like how to deal with him. That is all thanks to my isolation.

But now, I had nothing to do. I had a job, a car, and I was nearing the day I would leave my mother to live on my own.

That day was actually one week from now. I had gotten an apartment down closer to central Sunset Hill, and I was planning on moving in in five days.

I went home after work and started to pack my things up in boxes—first the things I didn't really need, like personal knick-knacks and posters and things that I could live without for the next few days. The only things I wasn't packing was my clothes and the little furniture I had.

The day finally came for me to leave, and my mom had a breakdown. A happy one, though, but she still caused quite the scene in our quiet little neighborhood with her loud weeping.

"Oh, my little Roxas! All grown up and leaving his mommy! Leaving the nest! Ohh!" She hugged and kissed me and told me how much she'd miss me, all of that "and make sure you come visit" stuff.

I took my last bags, said my final goodbyes and drove off to my new home.

Nothing all that exciting happened, though. Not for three weeks. I was on my way home and I stopped to get something in Twilight Town. I was more than uneasy just walking through that place. The last time I was there, walking the same streets, making the same footsteps, I was walking back to my old room, away from him.

I was half hoping to run into him, half wishing I wouldn't. After all, what would I say? How would I be expected to act? Should I apologize? Would he even _want_ to talk to me? The questions wouldn't stop coming, I had to force them to stop.

I was walking down the Tram Common and came across the way to the Sandlot. I went through to see a Struggle tournament beginning. I stayed to watch, remembering when I had been one of the fighters up there, beating everyone who was my opponent. That was certainly a fun day. Now, it was time to watch from the sidelines.

To my surprise, the person I was watching had been Hayner. He was fighting Seifer and won. Pence and Olette were there, too, and congratulated him when he came off the stage. I walked over to them with a smile on my face, just like I had three years ago when I visited them the first time.

"Hey, guys. Recognize me?" They stared at me for a second, Pence getting closer to inspect me. Then Hayner boasted my name.

"Roxas! How've you been, buddy, its been years!" And it was just like three years ago. So much to catch up on, so much to learn. For example, Olette had told me that her and Seifer were actually dating, and that his silver-haired sidekick girl was jealous. But Olette was looking to end the relationship soon, Seifer was becoming an ass.

"Well its good to see you all again!" I said with relief. Still, even now, those three were the only real friends I had managed to keep.

"Same here!" Pence patted my shoulder, and Hayner pulled me aside to ask me a question I dreaded.

"So, hey," We were a ways away from Pence and Olette, Hayner said we were gonna go talk to the guy who ran the Struggle. "Roxas, remember the last time we saw you and you went looking for your friend? What was his name again? Uh…" He thought for a long time, I fought with myself, not wanting to remember his name.

"Axel? Was it?" Of course it was. That was his name. I didn't want to hear it, but I had to. I hated it.

"Yeah," I nodded, trying to sound normal.

"Well, whatever happened? You never came back, and we never knew anything."

"Long story short, he ran off and no one knew where he was. My grades fell through and Twilit kicked me out. I went back to school up in Sunset. Sorry for not telling you guys," I laughed it off, but pretended to have to go somewhere. They told me to come visit, they still went over to the Usual Spot normally, so they said to just go there.

I went home, taking my time to get ready for bed. I didn't eat dinner, and I couldn't sleep. Work the next day was grueling, and I was exhausted. Things were the same for a while. Wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep, and repeat. The only bad thing about this new place, was that I couldn't watch the sunrise anymore.

I didn't go back to Twilight Town for a long time. Instead, whenever I was in town, I went to the station. I looked up to the clock tower, and saw no one, so up I went. It probably wasn't the best of choices, it only forced me to relive the time I spent with him up there. I sighed.

"Like it matters," I said to myself. "I wont ever see him again. That time three years ago was the last. It kills me, even now." I was quiet for a long time, not saying a single word to myself.

I left the clock tower when it was getting dark. But instead of returning home, I went to the forest. Even at night, I knew the dips and hills and trees by heart. Even after all the time that passed, it seemed all too familiar.

When I came to the only other opening besides the entrance, I walked slower. The wrought-iron gate was before me, open, left in the same place as it was the last time I saw it. Behind the gate was the mansion. Still standing, still ominous. Its not like I cared.

I walked up to the doors and pushed them open. Everything was in the same place, the moonlight illuminated the room enough for me to see the foyer. There were only a few places that were accessible, I tried the door to my right on the ground floor, first. It was blocked by junk so I had to move that stuff out of the way, but there was nothing in the room.

In the room across from it, the table was still broken and things were as musty as ever, but there was no sign of anything different. I went up the stairs, and into the White Room. Everything was the same. The drawings were undisturbed, collecting nothing but dust.

I came in here once before, maybe twice. I could remember some of the drawings, some were of Sora and some other people he knew, and then there were three or four that involved me. I found those ones, and just looked at them. Even though I didn't want it to be, my favorite one ended up being the one that had a few cloaked people and then me and him, together. I didn't want it to be my favorite, but whatever. It shouldn't matter. I left the room and went across the hall to the library.

I opened the door, and looked in to find no one at first glace. But, I was only looking straight ahead. Just around the door there was a hooded figure standing, looking at the books.

I didn't say a word, partly because I might have been trespassing and partly because they looked familiar.

"Who are you?" They asked in a whisper.

"Uh," I stopped, surprised. "Sorry," and I left. That person gave me a sense of great familiarity, but I couldn't place it. They called to me in a whisper from the door's entrance.

"Tomorrow morning at the station clock tower. Meet me there." I turned around to see their face, but it was shrouded so I couldn't see. I ignored it and just went home.

I had the next day off of work, so I went to Twilight Town and spent the whole day with sea-salt ice cream in my hand at the top of the clock tower.

Unfortunately, I had gotten there just as the sun was in the middle of rising, and not only did it remind me of watching the sunrise with him, but I was forced to think about the dying sunset on the day I helped him with his relationship problems. And I didn't want to think about him. I started talking to myself.

"Why here? Why now?" I began, speaking to no one in particular. "And not after I heard his name again. That just makes things worse. I don't even know what I want. Do I want to see him again, or do I want to die without hearing his voice?" I sighed.

"I just don't know anything anymore," I put my head on my knees, closing my eyes in absolute dismay. It was silent for a moment, and I heard someone walk up. I didn't move.

"Quite a speech you gave there," I froze. No. "Even if it _was _a little short, I kind of liked it," No, no way. Not now, no!

"Its nice to see you again," I didn't say a single word, even when he said my name. "Roxy."


	8. VIII Renewal

I like this one way better than the last chapter. :]

Oh and the beach that I mention, is so cool! Its an actual place Ive been to in Marrow Bay in CA, its awesome! Just like described!

Anyway, get on with the reading. Hope you like it!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way shape or form...

* * *

BURNING TWILIGHT VIII – RENEWAL

I couldn't believe me ears. I didn't want to believe my ears. He was here, just steps away from me, for the first time in three whole years.

My mind was scattered, what was I supposed to do? Talk to him, run away, ignore him, tell him to leave me alone, apologize, jump off the tower or what? My thoughts made no sense, and I knew he could see that. I didn't once look at him.

He just laughed at my silence, as if we had just seen each other five minutes before. He walked behind me, and sat at my right. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that same flaming red hair, and that all too familiar grin on his face.

"Its nice, isn't it?" What was he talking about? Seeing me or the sunset? I didn't saw a word. He looked at me, and sighed. That grin never left.

"Look, Roxas," He said after minutes of silence. "Just _say_ something. I don't care what, just _do_ it. I want to hear your voice again." Well, wasn't that just a familiar thought? "Maybe you hate me. Maybe you don't. But Ive done some thinking, and, after all this time, Im ready to hear your side of the story. Tell me what happened three years ago."

I didn't say anything, I just kept my head on my knees, thinking. What was I supposed to _do?_

I took so long to make a decision that he got up, saying he had to leave. I forced myself to talk.

"All this time, I haven't ever thought of your name. Ive thought of _you_ nearly everyday, but never once your name. I heard it for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago. And Im not going to lie to you, but I hated hearing it. I didn't want anything to do with your memory, but I couldn't keep them away.

"For these three years, I didn't know whether to love you, hate you, to remember, or forget you. I almost chose to forget, but I went into that mansion. I can only assume that was you in there, otherwise, this is pure chance.

"So, tell me. Do you still want to hear my side? Even after Ive near hated you?"

"Yes, I do." His answer was nowhere near hesitant, but for once it didn't bother me. I took a deep breath, and told him everything.

"That day, I went to grab a textbook I left and Sora and Riku's dorm. Sora wasn't around, so it was just Riku and I. We looked everywhere for my book, and when we couldn't find it, we just started talking. Just a friendly conversation. Nothing more. But he had to go an change that. Almost like he had known the exact moment that you were going to show up, he leaned over me and I froze. As usual, I didn't know what the hell to do or how to act, so I couldn't move. You came in, and that was his queue to go ahead and kiss me. I didn't like it. Not one bit. I hate him for that.

"Skipping everything you already know, I went back to the school and my grades fell to absolute nothing. I was expelled, and the day of my going home, Riku came up to me, telling me he did it to get you back, to get revenge on me for taking you away. He rubbed it all in my face. He knew where you were, he knew what you were doing, he knew everything and I was clueless. He loved that.

"After that, I never saw anyone from the school. Not even my own cousin. I didn't talk to anyone for all this time, and now, look who decides to show up and yank me back into the grasp of the reality that I tried so _hard_ to escape." Nothing was said after I was finished, I guess there was really nothing_ to _say. Well, not from me at least. If anything, he should have said something…

"I see," Was the only thing he had said. "Im not going to say sorry. My heart was broken, and that's that. There's no changing the reasons of the past."

And he left. Without a goodbye, without a handshake, without a "nice to see you again, but Ive gotta get going," nothing.

It was dark by the time I decided to head home, but I didn't mind the drive. I had off work the next morning, it was a holiday. I stayed up for a long while, just thinking. Not about anything I can put my finger on, I was just letting my mind wander and have its fun until I fell asleep.

The whether was dull. Nothing was looking up. I didn't feel like driving anywhere, but I did want to get out of the house. Even though it was a long walk from home to the station in Sunset, I walked anyway. I got my ticket and went aboard a train set for the beach.

I really have no idea why I wanted to go there, of all places, but it didn't matter. I just needed to get away. And no one was going to be at the beach. It was too cold and dark.

When I got off the train and arrived at the beach, there was perhaps only one or two cars parked there.

Now, this beach wasn't like the beach you're picturing. This beach was not long, seeming endless, it was not a sandy walk to the water. This beach looked more like a very large cove. On either side there were natural rock formations that blocked us off from the rest of the ocean, and closer to the far right side there was a rock that stood five stories tall, but anyone could climb it in 30 seconds or less. The walk up to the water from any direction was nothing but water-smoothed rocks and shells that had washed up over the years. If you walked left, away from the parking lot and climbing rock, there would be sand. Then the sand would end, and there would be natural rock formations that were smoother than anyone can imagine a rock being, and where there would have been sand there was an abundance of shells, with water washing in and out of small openings every few seconds.

It really was a beautiful place, I loved it. If I could go there everyday all day I would without a question.

After only a little while of being there, both of the cars that were there had pulled out and drove off. No one else was there, and it was the best silence I had ever heard. I went up to the climbable rock, ascending it in literally five seconds.

There was sand on top, the softest sand in the world. It was relaxing, the rocks around it were soft enough for anyone to carve into by just using their finger, and you could climb to branches of other parts of this giant rock. It was so much bigger once you got on top of it versus just looking at it.

But up on top of that rock I felt alive. There was only the slightest of breezes, even up this high. No one else was up there with me, I was alone. The ocean ended at the horizon, and it made me wonder how far I was really seeing.

I was by myself for a long time, having my shoes and socks removed, letting my toes play in the warm sand. After a while, I started drawing things in the sand, wondering what I should carve into the rocks that were around me. Last time, I had carved a star. The time before that, my initials.

This time, I mindlessly wrote out the words, _broken trust is broken trust. Let it go, leave it be._

And that was my carving. There was nothing more perfect to write than that. And, just then, as if it was planned, I heard his voice behind me.

"Since when did you start coming here?" There was a friendly hint in his tone, but it was mostly bland. "I thought you'd be at the station.'

"Not anymore. It gives me too much to think about. Too much to remember."

"Hm."

"And I guess I wont be able to come here, anymore, either." After that I didn't hear him say anything. Instead, he just walked on down a small eroded path that led to some rocks, and for the first time in three years, I saw him.

He looked the same as he did back then. The same slender figure clad in black, the same spiky red hair and pale skin. It almost made me want to cry, seeing him again, so close to me. But I knew that he was too far away, even still.

"No matter what I do," I said under my breath. "Things can never go back to the way they were." I looked at the sand, at the words a drew, reading them over and over. It made perfect sense. Nothing was going to be fixed.

"You're as stubborn as ever, Roxy," he said. I looked up, watching him. He put his hands on his hips, sighing. "But, you're right. We wont be able to go back to how things were. Not now, not ever." He looked over his shoulder at me, our eyes making contact. I dropped my eyes, not wanting to look at his face anymore.

His expression was stern, unhappy, and I knew he wasn't happy with me at all. He turned back to the ocean, sighing again.

"But that doesn't mean that I don't love you like I used to." I looked up, not caring whether or not he saw my face. "I still love you as much as I did back then. And we cant change that."

"But…" I started. "I…I don't know if I love you…" He looked back to me, but I didn't turn away. "I might have loved you back then, but I don't know anymore. I don't know anything anymore. Why do you think I go everywhere alone?"

"Because you're trying to leave reality behind, and live with no one." What? That was…he knew what I was feeling…but how? "You think that if you leave everyone you know in the dust that they will just forget about you, and you can just disappear. Well, that's not going to work. You said yourself that you cant go a day without thinking about me. If that's true, then why do you want to be away from me so bad?" I didn't have an answer to that.

"I don't know." I finally said. "It was painful to think of you, but somehow that's how I kept on going."

"But what if I wasn't alive anymore?"

"How would I have known? Thinking about someone never keeps them truly alive. It just keeps their memory alive. You only remember the people…you love."

"Roxas," He sighed. "Can you do something for me?"

"I don't know." He laughed, turning to me, another one of those fake smiles on his face.

"Do me a favor or two, would ya?"

The first favor was to walk with him to the train station. Then we went to my house, at which point I told him he couldn't stay anymore.

"Look, Ive spent the lot of my alone time with you. Im not sure what I think of it. But you cant stay. I need to be by myself." I turned away from him to open my door, when he stopped me.

"Roxas," I turned around.

"What?"

"One more favor." I sighed.

"What is it?" He took a step closer to me. Even though I had gotten a few inches taller, he still had a good couple of inches on me. I looked up at him. He gave another one of those fake smiles before asking.

"You said that you didn't like hearing my name, and that you hadn't thought of it in years. Roxas," I looked down, not wanting to do this last favor. "Say my name for me. Just once. Then Ill leave, and you don't ever have to see me again if you don't want to."

I sighed, shaking my head. I really,_ really_ didn't want to say it. We stood outside in the sunset for who knows how long, him waiting to hear his name come from my lips again.

"Fine," I said after that long time. "Only once."

"Okay. And Ill leave. I wont ever show up, unless you want me to. I which case, head to the mansion."

I nodded, hating myself and everything around me. All those years of trying to forget were about to be washed down the drain…

"Axel," I said. It rolled off my tongue like I had said it yesterday, and rushes of memories came pouring in my mind with that name. He just smiled, a real smile. He looked me in the eyes, true happiness on his face.

"Thanks," He patted me on the shoulder, nodded, and turned to walk away.

"Remember," He said a small distance away. "The mansion library, just like last time. Got it memorized?"


	9. IX Love is real

Sorry for the long wait... or at least it felt really long...anyway, here's the latest chapter, there's only one more after this so I hope you like where this ends up!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the characters or anything at all.

* * *

BURNING TWLIGHT IX – LOVE IS REAL

I had the same dream for the next three nights. It was clear as day, and it was the same exact thing. Word for word. Event for event.

I was going through my old elementary school, and everyone was on different teams. I was familiar with these teams already. There was team D, whose color was red and whose symbol was an X, that's the team I was on. Team G was blue with a palm tree, team B was yellow with a leaf, and team A was white with checkers.

Me and these people who were my friends in the dream were walking past a lineup of people, at the head of this line I saw him, and there were people around his like he was the center of attention. He wasn't on my team. He was team G, but his shirt wasn't team G. The shirt was yellow like team B, and had checkers like A. But they were called G. I passed him, saying,

"He's on G…"

I would wake up and remember every scene as if it was a movie I had seen twenty times. Since dreams are supposed to have a message in them, I thought about this one.

The teams represented different kind of people, like, style, groups, cliques. Team D was known for people who were different from the rest of the herd, like I was. The other three were your average people. So, with him being on a team that wasn't mine but made up of the others, I realized it meant that he wasn't like I was anymore. Or, at least, he wasn't what he seemed to be, anymore. Like he was slowly drifting to their side, away from me and towards the people Id grown to hate.

I had this dream until I went to the mansion to see him again. He was in the library, but this time, there was no hood over his head. He was reading a book, though I don't know what it was about. He didn't look up as I walked in.

"So," He said. "I see you wanted to see me again. Why?" He asked, standing up and placing a bookmark in the pages of whatever he was reading.

"Because,"

"Because why?"

"This dream." That got his interest.

"What dream? What happened?"

"Long story short it meant that you were slipping away from me and I didn't like it one bit." I didn't want to talk to him. Now that I was thinking his name all the time, it was hard to just think of him as _him._

"Hm, well, _are_ you unhappy without me around, Roxas?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. Ive learned to live without you, but I was never sure if I wanted you back or not."

"Even though I love you?" Those words meant nothing to me. Love didn't exist between us anymore. I didn't think he knew love.

"You don't love me, Axel."

"I do, I really do. Do you know how I know?" How. Tell me how you know. I want to know.

My thoughts raced at the idea of love, but I let him explain while I stood quietly.

"I know that I love you because this is different from when I loved Riku. Yeah, he broke my heart, twice, now that I know the real story. But whenever Im alone and I think of you, I get butterflies. My heart beats faster, and I remember all the good times we had. And in the end, I think of how you're not with me anymore. And it makes me sad. Like I want to cry, because I want you next to me when I wake up every morning, I want to hear your voice like I used to when we were young. I miss you everyday, Roxas." I looked away, I couldn't bare to look at him.

I left the mansion shortly after that whole ordeal, and simply went home. No thoughts, no stops, no memories, nothing. My mind was blank the whole way. I cant remember the drive home, that's how blank I was.

I had nothing to do for hours, and I couldn't sleep when the time came. I don't remember much of anything, until it was midnight and I heard a knock at the door.

It was him, or Axel. I don't know who to call him anymore. Not after I heard his name again, not after I had to say it.

"Evening," I said when I saw who it was. He nodded, and there was that uncomfortable awkward silence until I let him in, not that I really wanted to, anyway.

"Why are you here so late?" I demanded rather sternly. "I have work in the morning." He shrugged.

"I dunno. Just felt like droppin' by, I guess."

"Hm." For some reason I felt like we had switched roles. But there wasn't anything different…Nothing was said until I put my foot down.

"Look, if you're not here for anything important then you're going to have to leave-" I started to get up when he spoke up and stopped me.

"No, Roxas, wait." I sat back down, he sighed. "I don't know completely why I came. But I do know that I want to fix things. We're older than we were, and we need to handle this the right way." I nodded.

"Just, hear me out…I do love you, and Im sorry for not finding you earlier. We should have fixed this back in school, but instead I ran off and didn't see anybody for months until I felt it was right for me to just, move on. If Riku said he knew where I was, he was lying.

"But, Roxas, I cant stress enough how much I miss you and how sorry I am. I want you back….so much, I want you back…" His voice trailed off into nothing, and he didn't look at me. I was quiet, silently thinking of something to say.

"Axel," He didn't look up. "I don't know what I want. I don't know what I want from you, or from myself. I don't even know if I really _did_ love you back then," He looked up at me, hope in his eyes.

"You…loved me?" I nodded.

"I thought I did, but now that I've lived so long without you, and I tried so hard to forget, that I figured you didn't love me, so I gave up almost entirely. But now that you're here, I don't have any idea how to act or what to say. A part of me thought you may have even died, so I lived believing that, too."

"But Roxas, I love you! You just said that you had loved me, and if you really did love me you'd see it, you'd _know _it! _Please_, Roxas, _please_ just _try _to love me again, I don't think I could ever live without you now that I can just _sit_ here and talk with you! _Please!"_

"What if I don't love you like I used to? What if the love I felt back then was just some imitation love? I don't want to fake loving you." He was quiet, like he had lost all hope. His head dropped, he stared at the ground, motionless. I took a breath and slowly let it out. "But I do wish I loved you, Axel."

Then light that was in his eyes when he looked up at me…I felt like I needed to smile, and just spill my heart out to him with everything I wished for us to be, to go over to him and wrap my arms around him again…to hear the heartbeat that I missed so, so much.

Without knowing it, I had said most of those thoughts out loud, and he heard every word, listening as if there was a hidden message in my speech. He made eye contact with me one more time, and his eyes shone brighter than I had ever seen them before.

Just from the look in his eyes it made me remember everything that I adored about him, all of our memories and the feelings I had. I was in bliss, just in my own memory. My reverie was broken when he said my name with the most heartwarming passion I had ever heard come from a person's lips.

"Roxas…" I could see tears come to the edge of his eyes forming. I couldn't help but crack the smallest of smiles. He didn't say another word, instead he stood from where he was sitting across from me walked two steps to get to me and closed me in his warm arms like he used to back then. He held me tightly, whispering to me.

"I never want to lose you again…I love you and Ill never let you go…" I smiled, giggling and hooking my arms through his so that my hands were close to his shoulders, my elbows against his sides. I held him close to me, burying my face in his chest.

I realized just then that I really did love Axel, and that I didn't want to let him go ever again.

"Axel," I said to him. He said nothing, but I knew he was waiting for me to speak. "I love you. More than anything in the entire world…nothing can ever amount to how much I love you, and I mean it. I never want to be without you again." He let a breath go and held me tighter, and I did the same.

"I never thought that this day would ever come," I said.

"What day?"

"The day that I would fall in love with someone so great that I would want to spend the rest of my life with." I laughed a bit at the end, just out of my own amusement. He hugged me just a little tighter, then let me go and looked me right in the eyes. He was just as beautiful as he was the first day I met him. We smiled at each other for the first time in three years, and we kissed for the first time in three years.

Neither of us wanted him to, but Axel needed to leave, he had a few things to do the next day, so he went back to wherever he was living.

"Bye, Roxas, see you tomorrow." He waved and turned to leave, and when he was a few steps past my door, I went after him. I swung the door open and called for him.

"Axel," I ran for him and tackled him with a hug with my arms wrapped around his neck. He laughed a bit and hugged me back, squeezing me and giving me a kiss on the top of my head. I smiled and let him go, he did the same as he walked away.

"I love you," I said before he turned a corner. He turned to look over his shoulder at me.

"You too, Roxy. Love you too."


	10. X Such a Funny Thing

The final chapter to the love story of Axel and Roxas. This is not just another regular chapter, with this, I really outdid myself. It's more than four decades of the life of Axel and Roxas. This seals the deal. This is their life.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

ALSO: I would like to thank everyone who kept with the story thus far and likes it and to anyone wrote reviews, I just thank anyone who liked this and read till the end! Thank you all so, SO much! I love you all! 333333333

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BURNING TWILIGHT X – SUCH A FUNNY THING…

We saw each other almost every day, but even still I felt like something was missing. I had no idea what it was. I got to see Axel all the time, we would hug and kiss and do things any other couple did, he came over, we would go to places, get sea-salt ice cream, we would even climb to the top of the clock tower in Twilight Town to watch the sunset.

Maybe that was my problem. We would always watch the sun set, but never did we watch it rise apart from that time at school.

Whatever, I still don't know what my problem was.

We had been together for a total of one full month, it was wintertime so we would be expecting snow soon. Thankfully, Sunset Hill never saw too much snow, not nearly as much as Twilight Town did. They were a fair distance apart, even though it doesn't seem like it. By the time the clouds of snow got to our town, it was all gone. Just like rain.

Anyway, we were at my place (which was slowly turning into _our_ place) and I asked Axel a few questions.

"So where do you live right now, anyway?" He didn't answer me right away, instead he just shrugged.

"Out in Twilight Town."

"That far? And you walk every night! _Geez_ you know I can drive you there!"

"Yeah, but I like walking. Besides, the walk back home's nice."

"Oh," I sighed for no real reason, I just felt the need to sigh. "How come we never go there?"

"Hm?"

"How come we always come here instead of your place?"

"'Cause yours is better than mine is."

"I wont believe it unless I see it." I laughed, he laughed too, and then the topic was forgotten entirely. I insisted on driving him home that night, but he _further_ insisted walking.

"Fine, just don't get yourself killed!"

It was strange the next day. He met me outside of my workplace and we walked all the way to Twilight Town. He wouldn't let me drive, so I was forced to leave my car in the parking lot at work.

He wouldn't tell me where he was taking me, so I just played along and let him take me wherever. We went through the forest I knew all too well, and then ventured inside the mansion. He stopped, walking forward and examining the little castle statue that stood deteriorating in its glass case.

"So…" I said, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"So, what?" He asked.

"Why'd you bring me here?"

"You said it last night, remember?" I raised my eyebrow. Old habits. What a kicker. "You said you wanted to see where I live."

"Yeah, so this cant be-" I stopped. "Aw, Axel, come on! You can't be serious!"

"What?"

"You mean to tell me that you actually _live_ here?"

"Hmm…" He stopped, mocking me with a smile. "I guess, yeah."

"Axel!" I grabbed him by the wrist and made him look at me. "You are going to grab whatever things are yours and you are coming to stay with me." He laughed it off, thinking I was kidding. But the look I gave him told otherwise.

He grabbed an armful of dirty old clothes and things, and since we didn't have the car we had to walk all the way back to work with am armload of laundry just to drive back home.

Luckily, I had a spare room that I was using for nothing but storage for the few storage things I had, so I gave him the pointless choice of either sleeping on the couch, sleeping in the spare room, or sharing with me. Of course, he shared a room with me.

I bought a second dresser and more hangers for the clothes he had, which we washed the very second they got in the house, and I also got a few more dishes.

Eventually, I got Axel to get a job a few blocks down from where I worked. He got a job selling books at this place some older people ran, and they were thankful to have someone so young help them keep the shop open. He said he liked it, since he had gotten into reading a lot more and whenever he wasn't doing anything he could just sit and read while getting paid.

That helped with all of those normal bills and things you don't want to really hear about, ya know, paying bills, buying food, keeping things nice. After just a few more months Axel was buying some newer and nicer furniture for us so we didn't end up looking so poor. When he told me that I couldn't help but laugh.

Things continued to be the same for another three or four months, and then summer was on its way, and so was my birthday.

I never got excited for it, as you know, but Axel had to be nice and set something up for me. He had actually taken the day off of work to make me a cake and to make everything as spotless as he could for me. I really was surprised when I got home to see everything he had done, I went right up and hugged him.

"You didn't have to go and do that!"

"Oh, yes I did. I gotta keep my little Roxy happy, got it memorized?" Yep, he still said that whenever he got the chance. But it never got old.

Well, we ate some cake and saved what was left, and after cleaning up the small mess we made I went to lie down while he took a shower. I had near fallen asleep by the time he was done, just because the day had worn me out. The next day I had off, thankfully, because I had to work on my birthday and all…and I needed my rest.

But, with Axel around, who can get the rest they need, ya know?

He came in the room with nothing on but a towel around his waist. I didn't really care at the moment, because I was more focused on sleep than on anything else. But Axel wouldn't have that. He wanted to spend more time with me before the day was up.

I honestly didn't recall what was really happening, but what went on was I was lying in bed, half asleep, and Axel crawls into bed next to me, propped up on his elbow. His wet hair dropped water on me every minute or two, but I didn't care. I knew he was watching me. I was on my side, and then I rolled over on my back and looked up at him. My arms were behind my head in a desperate attempt to make myself look like I was awake at least a little bit.

"You tired?" He asked.

"Yeah, kinda." I yawned.

"Hm," He grinned, and I knew he had something up his sleeve.

He gave me a kiss, one of those long ones that stop time when it happens, and I got butterflies. He ended the kiss, but I didn't want him to stop just yet so I lifted my face to his. I felt him smile as I kissed him, and that's when things started progressing.

My head was back against the pillow, he was kissing me in the most romantic of ways…I loved it. Our lips seemed in synch as we moved them, and next thing I knew he had maneuvered himself on top of me under the blankets, and soon enough, the towel he was wearing had fallen off.

My heart beat faster, I was more awake now (for obvious reasons) and we started kissing each other faster, and things just kept on going at a steady pace, never slowing until it was all over.

You can imagine it how you want, but I'm not going to describe what had happened or what anything felt like, Ill leave that to your imagination.

But what I can say is that it changed me a little. I was happier, but I wasn't sure whether or not I was really happy about the whole _experience_ of it, if you know what I mean. Thinking back on it, I almost felt harassed. But in the end I knew I wasn't, so there was no point in my thinking that.

From then on, things went pretty well. You know, we had out arguments over stupid things just like any other long-term couple, and there was also the bedroom activity that went on more and more often.

A number of months had passed, and we were nearing our one-year anniversary. We both took the day off of work to spend time together. We rented two movies, _Halloween 2, 9, _and we went to the actual movie theater in the afternoon to see _Vampires Suck._

It was funny and all, but I'm not too big a fan of spoof movies like that.

Anyway, we spent the night cuddled together watching the movies we had rented, and I fell ended up falling asleep on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

I thought about his heartbeat. Like, you never really think past the science of it, but a heart is what keeps you _alive._ If that things stops, it's over. I thought about if I ever saw the day when I would have to press my ear to his chest to listen for the heartbeat that I was so familiar with, to find it lost, not there, not beating or making the sounds I committed to my memory. I held on tighter to Axel than I was a moment earlier, thinking of what I would do for the rest of my life if I ever lost him. That would be my worst nightmare.

Four years have gone by. I'm now twenty-three, and Axel's at the stunning age of twenty-five. Life was steady for those years, and we had both saved up enough money to move out of the apartment we lived in and into a nice house in Twilight Town.

We were packing up our things, so boxes were stacked everywhere for two weeks before the actual move. Axel rented a moving van, but we didn't hire a crew or anything. We lived in an apartment, we didn't have enough stuff that required a crew of people. So we did it ourselves. It took a full day, but it was still fun. Life in general was fun when you were around someone as fiery as Axel.

The complete move took two days, just because we had to use up one day to pack stuff (that night we slept in sleeping bags, we had packed up the real bed.), and the next day to haul it all over to the new house and unpack everything. The truck was returned and we were back to using my old car.

Once we were all settled in, life was very, very good. Work was closer by for the both of us, and the neighborhood was pretty nice.

We had certainly come a long way together, Axel and I. He came farther than I did, though. Hell, he was living in an abandoned mansion for three years before he even moved in with me, and that was impressive. Living in the abandoned mansion for three full years, I mean. But I couldn't help but wonder what Axel's parents or the school thought after he went missing? One day I asked him about it.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Yo," He was saying that a lot more lately.

"When you left the school and lived in the mansion, what would your parents have thought when the school said you'd gone missing?" He shrugged, taking a bite of a sandwich and sitting next to me on the couch.

"I dunno," he said with his mouth full. "I guess they wouldn't really give a crap about it."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"'Cause, my parents never really were around my whole life. I mean, I've only got one standing memory of my father being a real father, and my mom was always working, so she was never around. Whenever I came into the picture they always acted like I was just some giant burden. My mom would always say, "Go ask your father" so I would and he'd say "Go ask your mother" and it was a game of Pass the Axel. I remember my father saying he hated me on many occasions, so if anything, they were probably happy to get me off their hands." I didn't say anything for a minute, thinking about how I never liked my mom, and that she was able to care for me, keep a steady job and everything else she did all on her own, versus Axel's parents not giving a rat's ass for him.

"I'm sorry, Axel. I didn't know that. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I figured it wasn't something that needed telling." We dropped the subject after that. There just seemed to be more and more bad things about Axel's life that I kept on learning over the years.

Like when we were only two years into our relationship we asked each other what our biggest fears were and why.

"Getting kidnapped," was Axel's answer.

"Really? Why?" This was all two years ago so I'm just telling from memory.

"When I was eight years old I was walking home from my friend's house at night. My house was six blocks away, so it was a long walk. I was halfway there when I walked past this vacation house and a man tackled me from around the corner of the driveway. I was blindfolded and couldn't see or talk, he taped my mouth shut. My hands and feet were tied with my arms above my head and I was somehow tied to a wall with one of those rough ropes wrapped around my chest and neck a few times. It sucked, he tied the roped tightly so it was kind of harder to breathe or move without being in some sort of pain. I can't remember the guy's face anymore but he did take the blindfold off at some point. Long story short, that whole event is how I got these," And he lifted up his sleeve to show me a long scar that went from his shoulder to mid forearm, there was a matching one on the other arm, and he had scars all over his chest that I had somehow never noticed.

I asked him, "How did your parents react when you came home?"

"They didn't. I was gone in there for three days, I guess they assumed that I had spent the night at my friend's."

But now it's the present, and I now know why his parents didn't care about that whole incident. The more I thought about it, the more I realize that Axel's had one of the hardest lives as a kid, but he didn't give up on anything. He was strong willed, and I was thankful for that.

Well, more time passed and our lives went on like normal. When I was twenty-five, Axel proposed something to me.

"Roxas, hear me out on this, alright?"

"Well, yeah, of course."

"Thank you," He sighed, and then went on with what he had to say. "Roxas, neither of us are getting any younger, right? I'm going to be thirty soon, and that's not a happy age for me. I thought that, well, maybe having a little more life in our small family would do the trick." He smiled, and as if on queue our Siberian Husky, Bubbles. Yes, his name was Bubbles.

"By our little family, you must mean Bubbles, too right?" I laughed, he chuckled, not as amused as I was.

"Well, duh! Bubbles is part of our family!" He rubbed Bubbles on the head and continued with his point.

"But Roxas, I don't mean like, get another dog or pet. I mean…I want, well, I want a son," I looked up at him, not quite sure what to say. I really needed to break that habit.

"A son?" I said. "Axel, that's a big responsibility, having a baby around."

"I know, but we're responsible, we'll be good parents, and you know we would. We have enough time to do this, anyway. I just don't want to go without raising a kid. Ya know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Soooo? Can we?"

Soon enough, we brought home a three-month old baby boy. He was as pale as any other baby, and he had grayish-blue eyes and brown hair. The name he was given at birth was Paul Thresher, but we decided to rename him Rein, and used Axel's last name, Flynn. His full name was Rein Jay Flynn, and we raised him from that point in his life onward.

The first year was full of a mostly quiet child who only cried when hungry or needed a change, which we were both thankful for. Its amazing, how fast they grow up. I mean, you don't realize it until you see it happen for yourself. Suddenly it's his first birthday, and it seems like just last week we brought him home.

The second year we had him was probably one of the funnest. He was just starting to walk and by the middle of the year he was able to say our names and tell us things. Nearing his third birthday he was potty trained and could clearly tell us what he wanted, when he was hungry, and even what movie he wanted to watch. He loved it when we read him books and took him to the park. He was very social, too. He was also going to preschool for a few hours during the week.

He had grown to be a lean, muscular little kid with soft, dark brown hair by the time he was six. His eyes stayed the same beautiful gray-blue, and the more time he was out the tanner his skin was getting. All in all, he was a very handsome boy.

We went to the park with Rein one day, and there was more than one family there, so we let the kids play. The parents were looking at some other area of the park, their boy was older and could play by himself without a worry, but Rein tended to be a little too fearless, and he usually got hurt quite often, so we kept our eyes on him.

The other boy's parents were about to leave, so they left and Rein was the only one playing on the equipment. He kept on playing to his heart's content while we watched.

"Man, he really has grown, hasn't he?" Axel said in a warm tone, smiling. I nodded.

"He sure has," I smiled, happy that we had made the choice to adopt him.

"When do you think is the right time to tell him?" Now Axel spoke with very serious words. I shrugged.

"We'll know when the time comes." We looked at each other and he put his arm around me, kissing me on the forehead.

Our heads snapped back to the play equipment when we heard the sound of someone falling. Rein was motionless on the ground, unconscious. We rushed over to him, panicked, his heart was slower than usual. We both knew it and we ran him back to the car as fast as we could, and drove to the hospital.

We sat in a room with only a few other people in it, but they didn't look as scared as we were. Our son was in one of the rooms with machinery at both of his sides after collapsing for no apparent reason, and we had no idea what was going on. Minutes seemed like hours, and the time passed so slowly that it was painful to watch a clock.

The doctor that was in charge of Rein came out and got us, bringing us into a hallway that was near our son's room so we could talk.

"Doc, what's the problem with him?" Axel's voice was shaky and worrisome, he tried to make eye contact with the doctor but couldn't. The doctor sighed.

"Your son had a blood clot in his brain. Today, it ruptured, causing…" I didn't hear what he said after those few words. My mind went blank, and I was yelling at myself mentally for not keeping up with visits to the doctor like we were recommended to. I was worried about him, just hoping to every god I could think of to let him be all right.

"…in near critical condition, he's going to have to stay here with us until his health improves. We will do all we can to make sure he leaves this hospital with you two." He nodded to us and took his leave, and we found Rein's room. I looked in through a small window that was in the door, and saw my little boy hooked up to IV's and one of those respirator machines. It broke my heart to see him like that, helpless…the nurse that was inside invited us in to see him, after confirming that we were his parents.

His small body was covered with a hospital blanket, and he was paler than normal. Even his facial expression looked troubled. Axel put a hand on my shoulder, comforting me. I held on to his hand to do the same.

Rein stirred, my hopes were brightened when I saw his eyes flutter open and look at us.

"D-daddy…?" He whispered. "Where am I?..." We told him the situation, and he was smart enough not to argue with what needed to be done. Axel got down on his knees next to the head of the bed, slightly brushing the dark hair from Rein's pale forehead.

"We love you, son," He said. "Don't worry about anything, alright? You're going to be just fine." He smiled and I came over to be next to them.

"We love you very, very much, and the doctors here are going to take good care of you so you can come back home, so be good." Rein nodded, smiling at us, closing his eyes to rest. We said our farewells to both Rein and to the nurse, and headed home. Neither of us spoke on the trip back about what had just happened.

For the next three days Axel and I went straight over to the hospital after work to check on Rein. We weren't allowed to stay for too long, he needed to get as much rest for recovery as possible.

Of course, we worried about him as much as any other parents would if their six year-old child was hospitalized. But we never spoke of it at home. Hospital talk was saved for the hospital, and there was no need to get worked up about something that we couldn't change. The night of the third day, I fell asleep on the couch, wondering.

I was woken up by the phone ringing in my ear. At first I thought it was my alarm clock, waking me to get ready for work, but it was darker than usual outside. I looked at the clock that was on our cable box in the living room.

It read 2:53 am.

My heart dropped. Why would I be getting a call so early into the morning if it wasn't about my son.

Axel rushed into the room, as wide-awake as I now was. We both looked at each other with panic, both hoping, wishing with all of our hearts and souls that it wasn't anything bad about Rein. Axel rushed over to me and answered the phone that sat next to the couch.

"Hello?" His voice was serious, and he facial expression became the same as he listened. "Yes, this is Axel Flynn. He's my son," My heart rate went up, I felt so nervous I was almost sick. Soon enough he hung up the phone and rushed back into our room, coming back out with a jacket half on, carrying a jacket for me, and shoes for us both. He tossed me my jacket, and we ran out to the car, on our way to the hospital.

When we arrived ten minutes had elapsed, and we rushed back to where our son's room was. The door was open, and the doctor nodded for us to enter.

My heart began to break when I laid eyes on Rein. He was ghost pale with a mask over his mouth and nose, he had broken out in a sweat and his heart rate was slowing down, second by second. I was already near in tears, and when the doctor told us the situation, tears started to build up at the rim of my eyes. We were told he wasn't going to be coming home with us.

With not a thought in my mind I found myself walking over to Rein's bedside, getting down on both of my knees and holding the hand closest to me. It was ice cold. I tried not to cry when he stirred and looked at me, his eyes already losing their beautiful glow.

"Daddy…I…"

"Shh," I hushed him, "Don't speak, honey, just rest," Axel was next to me, his hand on Rein's shoulder. He smiled up at us both as best as he could, but in the background there was that everlasting _beep, beep, beep_ sound that counted every beat his heart made, and it was becoming slower and slower.

Axel started speaking to him, and soon enough the nurse left, followed by the doctor. They knew what was coming, and they knew we just wanted to be alone with our son for the last few minutes of his life.

"Rein," I put my spare hand on Axel's shoulder. "I just want to let you know that we both love you very, very much, and no matter what, you will always be in our hearts. Now, I want you to close your eyes and try to get one last nap, okay, son?" Tears were now flowing down my face and I could help it.

"Don't cry, Daddy…Ill be okay," I tried to laugh it off, then Axel held on to Rein's hand as I did, squeezing it with care and affection and told him how much he loved him. When our goodbyes were finished, he smiled at us.

"I love you too, Daddy…" He was referring to both of us, we knew, when he said to us, "Do you remember when I was little, and I asked what it was like to die?" We nodded, unable to help the tears.

"You said it was like going to sleep and never waking up, and that all's you do…is dream. Daddy," he looked up at us, trying his best to hold our hands tighter. "Even though Ill be dreaming for a long time, Ill never forget who my Daddies are." The machine went flat as Rein took his final breath to tell us he loved and will miss us. I didn't hold back any more of the tears that were left in me, burying my face in Rein's ice-cold hand, muttering that I loved him over and over and over.

I looked up to see Axel crying like I was, holding our lost son's face in his hands.

I was thirty-one years old, and I had just lost my only son, Rein Jay Flynn, born July 2, 2004, dead August 31, 2010.

I took work off for the next week, as that was all that they would allow me to take. I really needed a longer leave, but they couldn't grant me one.

It seemed like everything reminded me of him. And every time I was reminded, I felt like I needed to cry. For the first few days after he was gone, crying was all I did. Nothing could get done. I tried to take Bubbles for a walk. The moment I grabbed the leash, the memory of Rein always wanting to be the one to hold the leash and walk Bubbles came into my mind. Tears welled up, and in the end, there was no walk.

I tried to watch a movie, but scanning over each movie only reminded me of Rein asking me, pointing to each one, _"What's this one about, Daddy?"_ I would feel like crying again, and wouldn't watch anything.

But the worst part about mourning him was that every time I passed by, or came close to Rein's old room, a feeling of despair would wash over me, and I would cry. Especially after freshly coming home from his funeral, watching his casket lowered six feet into the ground. That was my final clue. It set in. This is real. There's nothing you can do to bring him back. You will never feel him in your arms again…

Work wasn't a relief. Sleep wasn't a relief. Being alone wasn't a relief. Things got so bad that I _couldn't _cry anymore. I was numb to the bone. There was no such thing as soothing me anymore. I knew that Axel felt the same. We didn't speak to each other for a while besides normal "can you hand me that" "where's this at" things.

Nothing was the same after that. We even considered moving, but neither of us had the heart to move any of Rein's old things. We never touched his doorknob, never went inside his room once we closed the door for the last time.

We didn't move in the end, but it still took months before we were used to the fact that Rein was gone and he wasn't coming back. But we couldn't talk openly about it. It hurt too badly.

One year had passed since Rein's death, and as things would have it, I found out something I was more than surprised to find out about, just one day after the one-year anniversary of Rein's passing.

Someone rang the doorbell and I was the one to answer it. Outside there was a woman who stood a few inches shorter than I did. Her arms were crossed, and she looked like she meant business.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi, is Axel here?" I was a bit taken aback.

"Uh, yeah, hold on." I went to turn, but turned back. "Would you like to come in?"

"No, Ill just wait here, thank you." She was polite, but in a rude way. I didn't really like her. I just nodded and went to get Axel. He was in our room.

"Axel?"

"Hm?"

"Some lady's here to see you," He looked up, confused.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"I don't know, she didn't say." He rose from his spot, I could tell that he had a few ideas to who it was at the door. I walked behind him, and when he saw who it was, he faltered.

"Tara," He nodded to her, obviously knowing who she was.

"Axel," She nodded back, I was now sitting on the couch, listening in as best as I could.

"What are you doing here?" Axel asked sternly.

"I came to settle a few things. To bring some news, as well."

"Hm." He didn't saw anything, just waited. She took a breath before continuing. I was more than uneasy with her, even if I couldn't see her.

"First of all, Id like to say that it's certainly interesting to find you here. In a real _home,_" Minus one point on the "Like" scale for this lady. "And, I see that you've settled down with someone…." She paused.

"Someone I love," Axel finished. She laughed at it.

"Sure, let's just go with that. But guess what, Axel? I've got a little something for you. Lea?" I came closer at this point, seeing as to I was being mentioned. She was motioning to someone. I heard a car door shut and the scuff of shoes coming up the walkway. A girl came and stood next to her, she looked at Axel and then to me. She was about as tall as her mother with red hair (not like orange, it was red.) and hazel colored eyes with a birthmark under her eye that looked like an upside-down teardrop that stood out on her olive-pale skin, and she had something familiar about her, but I couldn't place what it was.

"Lea, take those out of your ears you'll go deaf by the time you're thirty with those things." Tara rolled her eyes at her daughter, pulling out one of the earphones that were in the girl's ears. The girl sighed, pulled out an iPod and stopped her music and crossed her arms, glaring at Tara.

"Axel, this is Lea, my daughter," He was tense at my side, I could feel it. My mind was still occupied with why she seemed so familiar, so I didn't really take it into consideration. "and, Lea, this is your father, Axel."

Oh my…

I was stunned. Axel had a daughter. A real, flesh and blood, he created her, _daughter._

"Axel," Tara said. "I'm between a rock and a hard place. So long story short, either she comes here and lives with you, or she goes to an orphanage or whatever they are these days. Understand?"

"I see," Axel said after a pause, switching glances between his daughter and Tara. "Roxas, come here for a second." He turned around and brought me into the living room out of their sight.

"Axel!" I tried to whisper, but I was kind of mad so it was one of those louder whispers. "What the _hell?_ A _daughter?_" He scratched his head and looked at the ceiling. He always did that when he was uneasy.

"Yeah…about that.." He began his story, I had my arms crossed, waiting to see if I liked the answer. I swear, if anyone was the woman in this relationship, it would have been it. "When I was trying to get over you in high school I tried dating women and Tara was the first one I dated. Well, the only one…but we were only together for three or four weeks when she kinds just…got all over me and then, ya know, some things happened….so I guess, long story short, I ended up getting her pregnant…" He had finished, but I was unsure whether or not I liked the answer he had given me. It was obvious he didn't want to do anything with her, but that chapter in the book was long over, and we were where we were. I sighed.

"Well, Axel, she's your daughter, you decide." He sighed, hands on his hips, walking to the door. I didn't go with him, so I couldn't really hear that well, but I did see Lea walking back to the car. I didn't concern myself with what choice he had made, so I went into the kitchen to eat, when I heard the door close. I turned around the corner to see Axel with a very uneasy look on his face, with Lea right behind him, carrying three bags of things with her. I sighed, truly not knowing what to do.

"So," Lea was the first to speak. She had put her earphones back in and her music was blaring so that we could both hear it. "Where do I put my stuff?" She was awfully casual around us, but I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her mind.

"Uh," Axel shrugged, looking at her and then back at me. I shook my head and walked away.

"I'm leaving this to you." I went and sat on the couch, watching him to see what his next move would be.

"I guess just put it over there, for now…" The moment he started talking she wiped her head around and looked up at him, watching him speak. She said nothing, and just looked to where he pointed, adjusting her bags. Axel's look changed, I could see.

"Can you even _hear_ me?" She looked right at him as he spoke again, watching him. She set her bags down where he said she could, and then turned back around to him.

"No." He was taken aback, rather obviously, and it made me laugh. He looked at me, and then pointed at her in confusion. It was moments like these that made me realized that Axel hadn't changed in all these years. He was still the same empty-headed fiery teenager he was back in school.

"But…you…" Again, she watched him speak.

"I can't hear you. Its that simple."

"Then…how can you answer me?"

"Ha, you're kidding right?" She smirked, I got up from my seat and walked closer to them. "I can read your lips even though I cant hear you. Trust me, there hasn't been a single day I've gone without my music. I've gotten used to it." She walked away and sat on the couch as if she had lived here her whole life. I looked at Axel.

"She's…" I didn't find the words in time.

"Hey, _Dad_," she said in a weird sarcastic voice. "What kind of movies do you have here?" Axel looked at me, clearly not used to being called Dad from this girl he just met. He went over to a cabinet that was next to our TV, opening it to reveal everything we had to watch.

"Sweet, Tara's got nothin' back at that old place."

"Tara? You call your mom by her name?" Axel said.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I never saw her too much like a mom. The only thing that lady did was boss me around and tell me what I could and couldn't do."

"Hm. Sounds a lot like you, already, Axel." I said, laughing. He sighed, lifting his eyebrows and shrugging.

Later that night we were eating dinner, Lea was sitting next to her dad—which sounds _very_ weird for me to say—and I could see how much they looked alike.

She had a very similar bone structure about her face, and she definitely had Axel's eyes, if it weren't for the difference in color. Their hair color was pretty much the same, and I bet that if she were to style it like Axel's from the back they'd damn near look like twins. Her hair was a little less than shoulder length, with many layers and bangs that spiked out in front of one of her eyes. It was so interesting to watch them together…

"Yo, Dad," Ha. She even _spoke_ like him! "Where am I sleepin' tonight?" Axel stopped eating, and looked at me. I shrugged and finished my dinner, rising from the table and rinsing off my plate. "I guess, for now, you can just crash on the couch until we can figure somethin' out."

"Alright," She was nice enough at the dinner table to turn her music down and take one ear bud out, and surprisingly she had great hearing.

After everything was over, she slept on the couch and we went back to our room, where Axel wanted to talk about plans for her.

"Well then why'd you take her if you had no idea what to do? Don't you think about these things?"

"I didn't want her going to some foster nutcases! You never know where she'd end up! She's my kid, I had to take responsibility…"

"Axel," I said after a moment. "She's going to want a room." He knew what I was talking about, and turned to look at the door. Rein's room was just across the hall, and it was the only room we had available.

"Roxas…" He was desperate. "I can't bring myself to do that."

"Then let her do it. Just pass off any questions if you want, but let her clean it out and rearrange if she wants to. When she's done, she's done. Then the only problem we have is Rein's things." He was quiet. "Look. I know how you feel, I'm the same. But we have to get past this. As much as it kills me to say, he's gone. Rein is gone and he's never going to come back. We have to learn to get past it. Living in the past isn't going to help anything, especially since you have Lea, now, Axel."

The next day was Saturday, and we told her that the room across from ours was the room she could move in to, but we also told her that it was up to her to get rid of any items that were in there. She could keep what she wanted, but the furniture was her's now and she could do whatever she wanted with the room.

The whole day all's we heard was her music coming from her iPod speakers, the door opening and closing continuously with clothes and other things being thrown out into the hall. Whatever was littered outside of the door was trash.

Getting her room settled was a weekend long project, she was done Sunday afternoon, and she was nice enough to find the garbage bags to put the trash and things in, and then asked us where to put it all. She also didn't ask any questions as to why the room already looked occupied, which we were both more than thankful for.

It was a way different experience, raising an already grown thirteen-year-old girl. Neither of us had any clue what to really _do_ with the years went by, she was now sixteen…and she would bring home her share of boyfriends, but eventually they would all leave her because her father was…gay. She had an interesting way of coping, she wouldn't talk about it, she'd either watch the _Star Wars_ saga nonstop in the living room until she felt better, or she would go in her room, refuse to eat or speak and blast her music night and day until she felt better. Then, one day, she comes home and announces something. We were sitting on the couch in the living room watching some show on TV when we hear her music stop (which was rare) and she came out of the room, right up to us.

"Dad, Roxas," She always called Axel dad and me by my name. "I figured it wouldn't be that big of a problem for you since you guys are how you are, so, I thought it would be a nice to tell you that I'm done with boys."

"Alright, Lea," Axel said. It was funny, even though he preferred men as to women, he still had that protective father thing about him. Whenever Lea would bring home a new boyfriend he'd get all protective and ask her a bunch of questions about him.

"No, dad, I mean I'm _done_ with boys. One-hundred percent. No more." He turned around to look at her.

"What are you saying?"

"Boys have never worked out for me. So, I'm going lesbian. No more boys. Ever. I find girls more attractive, anyway." She walked away, and when he heard her door close he turned to me. I laughed.

"Looks like it runs in the family, eh, Axel?" I nudged him in the arm, and he just shook his head.

"That girl…she's somethin' else."

"And that is exactly how I know she's your daughter. No switches at the hospital with her. You two are just too much alike. You should see it from my eyes."

"Oh yeah?" He challenged, looking at me. "How? Name three things we have in common."

"You guys have the same structure about you. If you were a girl, you'd look like Lea." He blushed. "Also, you two speak the same. She's as sarcastic as you are, and just as stubborn. She's rebellious and hates being told what to do, and so do you, even when you're this old."

"Oh, really?" He pushed me playfully and we shared a few laughs before heading off to bed.

The next day, Lea came home and introduced us to her new girlfriend.

"Dad, Roxas, this is Erika," She had a big smile on her face when she said her name, and we could tell that Erika was excited, too.

She had short, layered blonde hair that exceeded her jaw only by and inch or two, with parts of blue every here and there. She had a nice skin tone, as if she had lived at the beach during the summer and the tan was wearing off. It wasn't dark, but not pale, but it was a happy medium. Her eyes were a shade of green that had spots of blue and what looked like yellow in them, and she stood a few inches shorter than Lea. I had to admit, they made a very cute couple.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Roxas," I held my hand out, and she shook it with a smile and a nod.

"Name's Axel-" It was funny, he stopped short. He was about to add "Got it memorized?" to the end of his sentence, but caught himself. I giggled, looking at him. Erika shook his hand as she did mine, and the girls were off to Lea's room. All's we heard was the sound of music and those really loud laughs that girls always make when they think something is really funny. We didn't see them until it was time for Erika to leave, and Lea was as happy as Id ever seen her.

After three weeks or so of Erika coming over almost every day and seeing Lea with a smile on her face all day, she came home from school, shut the front door without a word, dropped her bag by the couch and turned on _Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace_.

That couldn't be good.

But at least it wasn't _Titanic_. Whenever she watched that movie something was seriously bothering her. _Star Wars_ just meant she was upset about something, but hopefully it wasn't long term. Even though she wasn't my daughter, I worried about her as if she was.

"Lea," I said from the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She was angry.

"Liar," I said, walking over and leaning over the couch to look at her. "Tell me what happened." She sighed angrily, shaking her head in one of those "I cant believe your forcing me to do this" ways.

"Erika," She said her name with malice. That was _not_ good. "Today she totally avoided me, like, all day, and then when our last class started she, like, passes a note to me saying that she's leaving me because our relationship lost its spark! I'm so mad at her! But, like, _ugh!_" She slammed her head into a pillow that was next to her. She really did have a temper like her father. I wouldn't be surprised if she started to spout flames, that's how angry she was.

It was my day off, so Axel wasn't home when Lea first got there. By the time he got home from work she was midway into _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith._

"Uh-oh," He said when he saw his daughter on the couch with the sounds of lasers and lightsabers ringing everywhere. "Lea, hun, what's the matter?"

"Erika broke up with me." She crossed her arms and legs, saying it as angrily as she did when I asked her.

"Ah, man," Axel said, sitting down next to her. "Well you know somethin'? If she leaves you, then that just means two things. One, that you are not the right person for her. And two, Erika probably just made the worst mistake of her life. Do you know why?" She looked up at him.

"Why?" She was trying to hide a smile, but it wasn't working.

"Because you are the most amazing girl anyone could ever want to be with, and whoever you end up falling in love with is the luckiest girl in the world to have you." He smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her that fatherly noogie-hug thing. Lea smiled and laughed, obviously feeling better.

"Thanks, dad." She still watched her movie, but it was probably because she never stopped watching in the middle of one of the episodes. She had to finish the whole thing, not just part of it.

Later that night I had gone to bed early, and waking up a few hours later I was going into the kitchen to get some water when I saw both Axel and Lea sitting on the couch together.

"Yo, dad, you know what?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorta happy that Tara decided to try and leave me with you."

"Why's that?" I could tell from his tone that he was happier, and probably smiling.

"'Cause. You're a cool dad. I'm pretty glad that she decided to try and dump me on you, as mean as that sounds. You have _no_ idea how much different I would probably be if I didn't move in with you and Roxas. And it's cool, because now I've got a dad, and I never had one growing up. I just think it's cool." Axel chuckled and messed up her hair. That was "thanks, kid" in "Axel." Ha.

"After this one's over, you've gotta get in bed, alright? It's fricken _midnight_ and you've got school tomorrow, kid." And for once, she agreed. You don't know how many times we use to have to battle with her in order to get her to get to bed on time. But, thankfully, the final installment of the _Star Wars_ saga was almost over, which meant it was almost time for bed.

It was always rare to catch those moments between Lea and Axel, those father-daughter moments. But when I did, it was just a heartwarming experience. Axel came to bed that night, thinking I was asleep. I turned over to look at him.

"She really loves you, Axel."

"Hm?"

"Lea. She really loves you like a father."

"Well, yeah, Sherlock, I _am _her father."

"You know what I mean!"

"Ha. Yeah…" We were silent for a minute.

"What do you think about it?"

"About what?"

"About being a real father. How's it feel, knowing that the child you have loves you enough to tell you about these kinds of things? Lea's never that open with anyone, Axel. She really trusts you as both a friend and as a father." He smiled, putting his arm around me to give me a hug and a quick kiss before we went to sleep.

"It feels great, Roxas. It really does."

Two more years went by so fast I couldn't believe it when I think about it. Lea was a little over eighteen, had a steady job in Station Heights in Twilight Town, and had just gotten her own apartment decently close-by, and she was more than excited to move out. It wasn't because she wanted to get away from us, she would say, it was because she was eager to move on with her life.

And we were both proud of her. Besides her job and keeping up in school, she was thinking about going to a music college somewhere close. She had become the bassist for a band called Infrasonic Asylum, and the members included her, and her two best friends (who, strangely, were boys.). They were like siblings, those three. But their music career was advancing rather fast. They had played several shows, at least fifteen, and had started recording some songs with an underground record company. We all thought they were sure to take off and make it big.

The day came when Lea was to leave the nest, and we helped her move her final things to her car so she could be on her way.

She had grown to be a beautiful young woman. She had let her hair grow longer, it was layered again so she had small spikes sticking out every which way and she had her fiery red bangs over one eye, and she had grown to a height of 5'7''. She was a very pretty girl, lean and muscular, just like her father.

"Bye dad, Roxas," She gave us both hugs and a peck on the cheek to her father, smiling with bright eyes and anxious ambition. She waved to us from the car window, and we waved back until she turned around the corner and we couldn't see her anymore.

"She's grown so much." Axel said under his breath. I looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah she has. And she takes right after you, Axel."

"Hm." He chuckled with a smile on his face, sighing. "Now all's that's left for us to do is wait to miss her…possibly wait for some grandchildren."

"Wouldn't it be somethin' if she pulls the same stunt as you?"

"What are you talkin' about, what stunt?"

"Let's just say she ends up getting a broken heart and goes to run off with this boy and ends up with a baby. Hell, you two are so much alike I wouldn't be surprised if that happened."

"I guess…you're right…" He itched his head, just like he was a mindless teen again. That always made me laugh.

But, it did surprise me when Lea calls us two years later informing Axel and I that she was expecting a baby.

"But, you…Don't you sorta…_not _like men?" Axel was on the phone with her, I was listening in.

She sighed. "To make a long story short, dad, I was trying to get over someone and I ended up with this guy and now this happened." I gave him a look, mentally blaming him and his reckless behavior that he had passed on to Lea. She said she wasn't entirely happy about the fact she had had sex with a man, let alone getting pregnant from one. But she did want to keep the baby, and we stood behind her every choice.

As things progressed we had her over more often to make sure she was alright and not alone at home, and she would talk about different names and wishes for her child.

Soon enough, the time came, and we found ourselves rushing her to the hospital. Two days later, though, we walked through the doors with unexpected twins. They were brother and sister, but they looked very much alike, as if they were almost identical.

The boy, who was the older of the two by a full minute was named Cobalt Stone Flynn. According to Lea, Cobalt looked a lot like his dad. He had black hair that looked strikingly like Axel's spikey red hair, only it was a different color, and Cobalt's skin was a little darker and his eyes were brown instead of green. It was strange, how much he resembled Axel. Genes. They're somthin' else.

The girl was named Akira Foxx Flynn, she had bright blue eyes and the same red hair of Axel and Lea's. Her skin was the same tone as Cobalt's, too.

Years went by and by, and I was now 53, Axel, 55, and Cobalt and Akira were starting their freshman years of high school. It was funny, actually. Since Lea had many on and off girlfriends, someone wasn't always living with her, so she mostly had to provide for her family herself. She found a great job as a sound engineer in Twilight Town, and it had very good pay for doing something she really loved. Money wasn't that big of an issue for her, but she didn't have the time to participate too much in the kid's school times because of an unusual work schedule. So, what did she do? She sent the kids to Twilit Academy Boarding School, and she had us drop them off on their first day.

Going back to the old school was very strange. Everything looked the same to me, with a few changes, of course, but nothing too big. After helping Cobalt and Akira with their things, we decided to take a little stroll down memory lane. And we went right to our old dorm room.

It was strange, being back. We didn't go inside, or knock, for that matter, we knew it wasn't the same inside of there. But I took him up through the crevices and to the roof. Sure, we were getting pretty old, but we made it.

I got up there first, holding my hand out to Axel.

"Woo," he sighed. "I'm not as young as I used to be, Roxas!"

"Yeah, whatever, get your flat butt up here!" We laughed as I helped him to the top, and we remembered the first sunrise we ever watched together.

We couldn't stay for too long, so we descended from the roof and went back home.

Everything was fine for a few more years. We lived long enough to see Lea start her own Record Company for musicians, we saw the kids grow up and move out on their own, and we even saw Akira's wedding.

That was the only wedding I had ever been to, but I couldn't have been happier. Even if she wasn't my by-blood-granddaughter, she was still my granddaughter. And, as it turns out, she married a young boy one year older than her named Sora Keys III, and it was the grandson of none other than my cousin, Sora.

Our families were connected again, and Sora had finally matured and settled down with his long-time crush, Kairi. Together they had three kids, two boys and one girl. One was Sora Keys Junior, the eldest. The daughter, which they named Namine (after Kairi's best friend), and the youngest boy was named after Riku. After the incident at the school, it turned out that Riku disappeared shortly after I had left, and no one had seen him after that. To this day, no one knows where he went.

Axel and I both lived long enough to see the birth of our great grandson, Dominic Louis Keys. He grew to be a handsome young man, one with a lean build, blue eyes and spiky black hair that looked red when it was in the sun.

He was fifteen when Axel passed. I was 73, Axel was 75. It was a sad day, but only the week before we were sitting on the couch together when he spoke to me in a way he had never spoken to me before.

"Roxas," He started. "Its right around the corner."

"What is?"

"My time." I said nothing, just staring at him. "I'm not going to last forever…we need to figure out where my things are going."

"Axel, don't talk like that."

"Roxas, I know I don't have too much longer. I can feel it. Trust me." Sure enough, the next week, I woke up in the same bed as I had for the past decades of my life, and went to wake Axel when I found the love of my life to be motionless, stiff, breathless, gone.

I did what he wanted me to. I had his body cremated, then kept the ashes on a shelf in my room, so it was like he was still sleeping with me, even though he wasn't there anymore.

When I first realized he was gone, I panicked. I had no idea what to do. I couldn't live without him, I loved him too much to do that. But he always used to tell me, "Roxas, no matter what happens to me, you have to swear that you will keep going until you drop…" and I was going to keep my word. I did miss him, but that wasn't going to bring me to my knees just yet.

I gave Lea a call one day. "Lea, its Roxas."

"Hey, haven't heard from you since dad passed. Long time, no talk, huh?"

"Ha, yep," I laughed it off. "But Lea, listen for a minute. I know for a fact that I'm not going to last very much longer at all. You can have what you want from here, and anything that's left you can sell or whatever. It doesn't matter to me, but I have one favor to ask."

"Alright, spill." She still talked like a teenager. It was amusing.

"Your father's last wish had two parts. He wanted himself cremated, and that is done. The second part of his wish was about me. He wants you to cremate me, and once that deed is done, he wants our ashes mixed so that we are together again, and he wanted you to take our ashes and climb to the top of the clock tower at the Station in Twilight Town. Listen carefully, now, nothing can be missed.

"He wants you to pour our ashes along the edge of the top of the tower, you will know, you can easily take a seat on it. He wanted you to pour the ashes across the front of the tower like I just described, and let our ashes blow away in the wind." She agreed, and it wasn't too long before this was accomplished.

I remember my last night. I had the feeling in my heart that I was leaving that night, and I smiled, accepting my fate. Axel's last wish was carried out, our ashes were blown away, and that was that.

It's a funny thing, death. Maybe my experience will be different from yours, but when I passed, I woke up to find myself in the prettiest of all places. White skies, glowing moon, lavander, silk grass…warm, sparkling white sand near the shores of the midnight blue sea. I looked around me, exploring, when I came across a glass platform. I stood on top of it, and off it took me to a higher place. I stepped off onto a tower made of purple-tinted glass strong enough to hold anyone, looking out on a beautiful setting of a silver sun sinking behind flawless mountaintops. I watched in awe.

"Yo," I looked over, and saw my love, sitting down like he used to atop the Tower or Twilight Town, he was young again, as if he was just nineteen. I smiled and came over to him. He stood to greet me, holding up a small mirror to my face. I was also the age that I was when I met Axel. I was in my seventeen-year old body again. Axel was speaking so softly…but I wasn't listening…I only heard the end of his speech, but not until later.

I smiled and hugged him so tightly…and I heard his heartbeat again. He was really here. He was really alive. And he was standing in front of me, his arms holding me like they used to.

An endless embrace for our young souls, a love so great that not even death can break the spell. A kiss so romantic, time stops, the earth halts, we exchange words, and there is nothing in the world…

"…except you, and me."


End file.
